James MagazineJames_July-August_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 62
The good news is that Georgia had over 24,000 cybersecurity
job vacancies three years ago. So,
while we’ve made progress on the
workforce development front, we
still have a long way to go. In our
public education system, Georgia
has some exceptional computer
science and cybersecurity programs, but many middle and high
schools in rural Georgia are left
wanting. Most of our middle and
high school teachers who teach
computer science or cybersecurity are not computer scientists or
cybersecurity professionals, so our
teachers need help. Georgia also
has exceptional cyber programs
at the college and university level,
but students struggle to gain the
hands-on experience required to
meet the minimum requirements
for entry-level cybersecurity jobs.
A Proactive Defense
Recognizing the reality of growing cyber threats, Georgia leaders
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made a strategic decision almost
nine years ago: rather than simply
reacting to cyber incidents, the
state would build a proactive ecosystem in Augusta to help defend
against cyber threats and grow a
cybersecurity workforce capable
of sustaining long-term resilience.
Starting with near zero capability and capacity when the doors
opened in 2018, the Georgia Cyber
Center has grown into a thriving
ecosystem that includes an impressive array of partners and capabilities, or what we call a “One-stop
shop for Cyber.” It delivers affordable and relevant education and
training, developing the region’s
cyber workforce, solving complex
technical challenges through collaborative research and innovation,
advising our state policy-makers
and leaders and delivering cybersecurity services at the local level.
Last year, the Center hosted over
27,000 visitors and trained over 500
state/federal employees, helped
inspire and educate over 4,500
middle and high school students,
trained and assisted over 50 teachers, and conducted research that
had significant national-security
implications. However, as impressive as those numbers may be, it is
unfortunately not enough.
Transformational Approach
Our vision at the Georgia Cyber
Center is to lead a revolution in cybersecurity, creating a culture of cybersecurity in Georgia. It has taken
a few years to build capacity and
foster the right relationships, but
we are now ready to embark on a
journey that will help solve the two
problems mentioned earlier: defend
local Georgia against cyber threats
and create a workforce pipeline
with unmatched experience. The
concept is quite simple: use our
extremely talented university students, trained and led by industry
experts to provide cybersecurity
services to local-level organizations.
