Governor Ron DeSantis hosted a news conference on the USF Tampa campus Wednesday to announce a $20 million grant from the Florida Department of Education to Cyber Florida at USF to “strengthen the state’s ability to fill high-demand careers in cybersecurity and information technology (IT).”
Joined by several USF and local high school students, the governor explained that Cyber Florida will work with regional partners to start training students as young as in middle school – helping build the skills required to meet the cybersecurity needs of public sector agencies, businesses and industries, according to a press release by the university.
Governor DeSantis is at the University of South Florida to announce investments in cybersecurity workforce education. https://t.co/hfcVPmDacb
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 2, 2022
“USF has been recognized as a leader in IT and in cyber. They even partnered with United States Special Operations Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, to help develop new technologies and programs that can improve our national defense,” DeSantis told the audience at the Sam & Martha Gibbons Alumni Center.
The new funding will be used to train new teachers and purchase training equipment to help middle school, high school and college students obtain credentials in cybersecurity, according to the press release. Gov. DeSantis hopes to see more than 300,000 students trained in IT and cybersecurity by 2024 – more than double the number of students enrolled in similar programming today.
Our $20 million investment in cybersecurity workforce education will double enrollment in cybersecurity and IT pathways to more than 300,000 by 2024.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 2, 2022
Cyber Florida, officially known as the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, was established by the Florida Legislature in 2014, the press release notes. In addition to enhancing the state’s cybersecurity workforce, it facilitates job creation with an emphasis on the defense, finance, health care, transportation and utility sectors. There are nearly 22,000 unfilled cybersecurity-related jobs in Florida.
Multiple cybersecurity firms have attributed their recent decisions to relocate or create jobs in the Tampa Bay region in part due to USF’s talent pipeline and the university’s collaboration with the military, the press release notes.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Ron DeSantis.
