University of Tasmania Partners With Fortinet To Close the Cybersecurity Skills Gap

The University of Tasmania has partnered with Fortinet by becoming an Academic Partner, in order to build a diverse, skilled workforce to help close the cybersecurity skills gap

The program will begin in Semester 1, 2023. The University of Tasmania is the 498th education institution globally that has implemented the Fortinet Academic Partner Program, and the 16th in Australia.

The Academic Partner Program at Fortinet’s Training Institute works with academic institutions worldwide to increase access to training courses to address the global talent shortage in cybersecurity, thereby contributing to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce.

Industry-recognised Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) training and certification courses are provided to bridge the gap between education and careers.

The Fortinet Academic Partner Program collaborates with higher education institutions and schools around the world to prepare students to become skilled cybersecurity professionals.

The program will be offered to students at the University of Tasmania in multiple ways: as part of the ICT curriculum for high achievers/Honours students; as a short course for undergraduate/diploma students or school leavers; and, significantly, to individuals outside the field who want to reskill, return to work, or switch careers.

According to the Fortinet 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Gap global research report, 80 per cent of organisations worldwide suffered one or more breaches that they could attribute to a lack of cybersecurity skills and/or awareness.

Closer to home, the Fortinet Networking and Cybersecurity Adoption Index found that only 41 per cent of organisations considered themselves highly resourced to protect data assets and IT infrastructure.

Further, the (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study suggests the global cybersecurity workforce needs to grow 65 per cent to effectively defend organisations’ critical assets.

The Head of the School of ICT at the University of Tasmania, Professor Anna Shillabeer, said, “As part of my work here, we undertook a rethink of what is required to build capability and digital skills.

“We identified that there are pockets of Tasmania’s IT with significant capabilities; however, there is also a skills shortage that needs to be overcome, especially in cybersecurity, to better cope with demand.”

“The Fortinet Academic Partner Program is continuously updating its training with content that is relevant and dynamic for the issues and challenges cyber professionals face today.” Professor Shillabeer said.

Dale Nachman, Country Manager – Australia, Fortinet, says Fortinet recently surpassed the milestone of issuing one million NSE certifications globally.

“Partnerships with universities, such as the University of Tasmania, are key to Fortinet’s mission to close the cyber skills gap. “

“The cyber threat landscape continues to grow in both volume and sophistication and having trained professionals to help governments and enterprises improve their cyber resilience will be critical,” he said

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