June 2023 NICE Community Coordinating Council New Leadership and Monthly Meeting Recap

Introducing New Leadership

The work of the NICE Community Coordinating Council is supported by voluntary participation of the members and group co-chairs. In particular, co-chairs generously offer their time and thought leadership throughout their two-year terms.

We would like to thank and acknowledge the service of the following outgoing co-chairs this year:

• Paul Bingham, Interim Academic Co-Chair of the NICE Community Coordinating Council
• Bridgett Paradise, Industry Co-Chair of the NICE Community Coordinating Council
• Lynsey Caldwell, Modernize Talent Management Working Group Co-Chair
• Melissa Woo, Modernize Talent Management Working Group Co-Chair
• Roland Varriale, Promote Career Discovery Working Group Co-Chair
• Richard Spires, Transform Learning Process Working Group Co-Chair
• Amelia Phillips, Cybersecurity Skills Competitions Community of Interest Co-Chair

In addition, we are pleased to announce some new additions to the NICE Community Coordinating Council leadership team. We welcome these new co-chairs, and look forward to their contributions:

• Michael Alicea, Industry Co-Chair of the NICE Community Coordinating Council
• Zarina Blankenbaker, Academic Co-Chair of the NICE Community Coordinating Council
• Jo Justice, Modernize Talent Management Working Group Co-Chair
• Olesya Menon, Modernize Talent Management Working Group Co-Chair
• Tara Wisniewski, Transform Learning Process Working Group Co-Chair
• Jake Mihevc, Cybersecurity Skills Competitions Community of Interest Co-Chair
• Jessica Leung, Cybersecurity Skills Competitions Community of Interest Co-Chair

#ICYMI - Monthly Meeting Recap

Join us on June 28th at 3:30pm ET for the next NICE Community Coordinating Council meeting. 

In case you missed last month's meeting, the minutes from the May 24, 2023, NICE Community Coordinating Council meeting have been published. The meeting included speakers from Fortinet, the Tennessee Department of Education, SANS, the National CyberWatch Center, New America, and more!

Take a look at some key highlights from our meeting:

Standing Items

Report Roundup
Luke Kosolsky from Georgetown University shared a presentation on Building the Cybersecurity Workforce Pipeline, a report that analyzes the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C). 

Strategy Stories
Nathan Fisk from the University of South Florida presented on the 502 project, which aims to broaden access to the cybersecurity community by running a large-scale discord server. The server provides students with access to challenges, events, and other activities year-round.

Framework Feature
James Stanger from CompTIA discussed the Cybersecurity Credentials Collaborative (C3), a formal group of major cybersecurity certification providers. The C3 has created a mapping of certifications to the NICE Framework Work Roles. 

Research Review
Samuel Owusu from Marymount University provided a briefing on research titled: Bridging Cybersecurity Workforce Skill Gap with Experiential Learning: The Role of Cybersecurity Clinics. The research proposes a 6-component framework designed to demonstrate the primary components needed in a cybersecurity clinic.

Working Group and Community of Interest Updates

Project Updates

The Transform Learning Process Working Group is introducing a new project team focused on recognizing faculty as valued member of training and education efforts.

The Modernize Talent Management Working Group is seeking feedback on their draft Guide for Writing Effective Job Descriptions. The Guide is meant to be used before, during, and after hiring and includes checklists for what to include in job postings and a rubric for what language to include when determining criteria for the position.

The K12 Cybersecurity Education Community of Interest is currently working on developing content for Cybersecurity Career Week (Oct 16-21, 2023), a Quarterly Teacher Recognition Program, and the Cybersecurity Career Ambassador Program.

The NICE Framework Users Group held its first open call on June 29, 2023. During this call, participants provided feedback and asked questions about the NICE Framework.

Past Meeting Presentations

• Presentation from NPower on adjusting Human Resources (HR) processes to capture more candidates to fill entry level roles and how keeping diversity, equity, and inclusion in mind helps us all think about underutilized resources.
• Presentation on an employer guide from the Department of Labor for those who are seeking to hire veterans.  
• Presentation on the National Cyber League's Canvas Shell, a pre-created site for collaboration. 

Learn how to join a Working Group or Community of Interest

Project Progress Reports

The NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference has extended their deadline for accepting proposals for speakers at their next conference. Submit your ideas by July 28, 2023! 

The US Cyber Games has wrapped up the US Cyber Open and has invited  select athletes to participate int the US Cyber Combine July 7 - September 2, 2023. 

Recorded sessions from the 2023 NICE Conference & Expo are now available online. The next NICE Conference & Expo will take place June 3-5, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. 

Featured Topic

NICE Framework Competency Areas
Karen Wetzel from NICE announced that the NICE Framework Competencies: Preparing a Job-Ready Cybersecurity Workforce (NIST Internal Report (NISTIR) 8355) is now available along with the Competency Areas Authoring Guide for Workforce Frameworks. NICE has also released a new proposed list of NICE Framework Competency Areas for comment by August 5, 2023. 

Learn More

Join our next meeting on July 26, 2023. 

The NICE Community Coordinating Council meets monthly to engage with public and private sector participants on cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development topics. 

Additionally, the NICE Community Coordinating Council is comprised of three Working Groups and four Communities of Interest, each with their own meeting cadence.

Learn More