Microsoft is expanding its cybersecurity skills campaign to cover a total of twenty-three countries.
In a weblog post by Kate Behncken, the company's vice president and director of Microsoft Philanthropies, the company said it expects there to be three to five million open cybersecurity jobs in the world by XNUMX, an increase three hundred fifty percent.
To address the issue, Microsoft is expanding its Cyber Security Skills Campaign, currently only operational in the US, to Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico. , New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Closing cybersecurity and gender gaps
Explaining why the company chose these countries, Behncken said they have a "high danger of cyber threats" as a "significant gap" in their cybersecurity workforce, both in terms of number of professionals and diversity.
So, Microsoft doesn't just want more cybersecurity professionals, running antivirus and other programs, around the world, it wants more female cybersecurity professionals around the world. "It's not just about equality, it's also a business case: joint ventures are more successful," the ad said.
To ensure the project is successful, Behncken adds, Microsoft wants to cover certain basics, such as understanding the skills gap in each country.
"As a larger community, we can't fix a problem we don't fully understand, which is why Microsoft is launching a new partnership with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) to not only develop detailed research into the skills gap in certain countries, but also to enhance the ability to develop the cybersecurity workforce through post-secondary education and training,” the weblog explains.
In addition, the company is going to offer free cybersecurity training through its LinkedIn learning platform, deliver a curriculum for educational institutions in countries, and offer a free global IT training program in cooperation with Ecole Forty-Year. two, whose mission is to teach the next generation of software engineers.