Industry calls on employers to say what security skills are needed

The National Skills Academy for IT is calling on employers to address the cyber security skills gap by sharing views on the most useful courses and qualifications.

Hosted by former home secretary David Blunkett, a meeting took place last week between the National Skills Academy, e-Skills UK, Open University (OU), Eurim and the police e-crime unit to discuss future career paths for security professionals.

The industry bodies want employers to provide up-to-date information on what courses and qualifications are useful for an IT security career path.

"We need employers to say what really works to make a difference in developing cyber security professionals. We're going to build a database and look for contributions from employers over the next month," said Kevin Streater, executive director of IT and telecoms at the OU.

A spokesman for e-Skills said, "Work has been specifically focused on current training needs and examining the viability of a 'one location' database of relevant courses and qualification. This builds on work to date between the National Skills Academy for IT and Eurim."

The organisations also want employers to volunteer for the cyber security advisory board to support the National Skills Academy.

Companies such as IBM, KPMG, Capgemini and Aviva were involved in the meeting.

To get involved or share your views, e-mail [email protected].