The strong demand of industry for talented and skilled cybersecurity professionals and the necessity to build an innovation and R&D driven programme are the main drivers for incorporating an internships period in the programme. Details are explained as below.
Industry demands: There is a shortage of professionals in Europe and worldwide who can develop products and services for the cybersecurity platforms. According to ENISA’s report dated in 2019, cybersecurity job postings have increased to 94% since 2013 whereas cybersecurity vacancies took 20% longer to fil than in other IT occupations[1]. Moreover, it is asserted that in 2019, there was a shortage of approximately 291.000 cybersecurity professionals in Europe up from the previous estimate of 142.000 professionals stated in the records of 2018. Thus, internships offered in CyberMACS aim to fulfil the industry demand by raising professionals who have a strong background both in theoretical and practical cybersecurity skills. Students with a working experience of more than one year in the cybersecurity field or closely related field may petition in writing an exemption to the internship module to the Programme Manager and the Local Academic Coordinator. The final decision is taken by the Executive Board.
[1] European Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA), Cybersecurity Skills Development in the EU: The Certification of Cybersecurity Degrees and ENISA’s Higher Education Database, December 2019, p.8