Recap HSD Café: Cybersecurity competencies: what do we need and what is asked of the job market?

The cybersecurity job market is vast and diverse, with a lot of demand for new talent. Meeting this demand proves a challenge that requires a collaborative effort: during the HSD Cafe at the HSD Campus we looked not only at what competencies play a role in the cybersecurity job market on a national and European level, but also discussed what collaborative actions we need to take to take on this challenge. 

The session emphasised that facilitating demand of cybersecurity talent not only requires insight into what cybersecurity roles entail to better define the exact demand, but also that meeting this demand simply cannot be met through one-way effort: informing upcoming cybersecurity talent which requirements they should meet is not enough. 

Key insights from the speakers:  

Pritti Rana (Programme coordinator at NCC-NL): 
Within the cluster EU project of NCC-NL Pritti Rana explained how across the EU efforts are being made to build bridges between national and European cybersecurity innovation communities, policies and strategies. The NCCs across Europe closely collaborate on the topic of cybersecurity skills, sharing best practices. As an example, she showed how the Digital Talent NL initiative presents a leading example for many European counterparts. 

Rick Strijbos (Strategic Business Developer at DNV): 
With a lot of experience in the field of security certifications and education, Rick Strijbos went into the requirements and trends he comes across at DNV Security Academy, such as the American certifications versus the European ones, and the field of cybersecurity becoming more and more international in part due to the current debate about EU autonomy and sovereignty.  

Mark Ruijsendaal (Programme Director at Security Delta): 
From the HSD perspective Mark Ruijsendaal started by comparing the more traditional way of looking at job profiles, with ICT as an example. He explained how HSD focuses more on cybersecurity, and found how the job profiles do not always match, requiring a more precise way of measuring and defining all job profiles. Not only in terms of the job required, but also whether it concerns the corporate or government, or different regions or sectors.

Discussion by Mira van Benthem (Innovation Liaison at Security Delta) 

Bringing together the three perspectives introduced by Pritti, Rick and Mark, Mira van Benthem (Innovation Liaison at Security Delta) gave a short introduction of the Human Capital Agenda, and what efforts are being made within this project to tackle the shortage of security talent in the sector. Through this introduction Mira also opened the floor for open discussion with the audience to gather their input for helping solve this problem by closing the gap between cybersecurity demand and supply. 

Key takeaways 

• The Netherlands provides an active example for the EU in terms of providing education and training, in the spirit of life long learning.
• Key to meeting cybersecurity job demand is using the same language and definitions when it comes to competencies and job profiles. 
• Personal skills should serve as a basis for talent development instead of seeking only experience and knowledge.

Security Delta would like to thank the speakers and participants for their valuable contributions and looks forward to future HSD Café events, where these important topics will continue to be explored. 

Several times a year, we organise an HSD Café around a key security topic. The HSD Cafés serve to inform the network about the latest developments and opportunities, but also to discuss challenges. The HSD Cafés are organised by HSD Office and are open to professionals, experts, students, and all who are interested. More information about these session can be found here.