Graduates of Deakin University’s new cyber security degree course will be offered placements at Dimension Data, ANZ and NAB, plus Victorian Government funding to gain industry certifications.
The businesses each contributed to the curriculum of the course – Bachelor of Cyber Security – and will provide 12-week internships to the degree’s first cohort of students. Up to 100 students are expected to graduate from the course in 2019.
The Victorian Government is backing the partnership with funding for four industry certification licenses for each student.
“This initiative will help launch Australia’s future cyber experts into the workforce, ready to go at a time when cyber security expertise has never been needed more. It’s been well documented that there’s a global shortage of cyber security professionals. At the same time, employers often report that candidates for cyber security roles are not ‘work-ready’ at the time of hire,” said Duncan Brown, director of the strategy and innovation office at Dimension Data.
“We believe a holistic approach to education and training will help address these challenges and ensure that the next generation of graduates is set up for success from their first day in the cyber security arena.”
In July, Dimension Data, Deakin University and the Victorian Government (through LaunchVic) launched CyRise in Melbourne, a six-month, mentor-driven program for cyber security start-ups in the state.
The incubator is located at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus.
The university’s School of IT head, Professor John Yearwood, said the new course had been designed to ensure students were job-ready upon graduating.
“Our new course, and this partnership, will help build confidence for businesses, consumers and the Australian economy, knowing that cyber resilience is being taught at the highest level, with Deakin providing world-class content,” he said.
“It will enhance cyber security collaboration between the Government, education and industry sectors in Victoria and create jobs for the digital economy, which depends on the right security for public and consumer services to be safely accessed in today’s globalised digital world.”
The Victorian Government has invested $1million in the qualification.
“This is a great opportunity for our experts at NAB to share their insights and knowledge to ensure we’re helping develop job-ready graduates,” said NAB Chief Information Security Officer Andrew Dell.
“ANZ is pleased to support this industry and academic partnership to address cyber security skill shortages and build the cyber defence skills needed to protect critical commercial and government assets into the digital age,” added ANZ head of technology, cyber security Adam Cartwright.
Schools out for cyber
The new course is the latest in a number of cyber security degrees resulting from university partnerships with corporates.
Last year, Macquarie University and Optus Business launched a $10 million cyber security hub offering degree courses.
Optus Business also works with La Trobe University, partnering on a “market leading” cyber security degree.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia and the University of New South Wales have partnered since late 2015 on an applied cyber security undergraduate curriculum and related massive open online course (MOOCs).