A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Items related to Panel Discussion from Draft report on PDD-63

The following items in the DRAFT report on PDD-63 progress are worth noting:

Chapter III. Special Functions Agencies, National Defense
The Department of Defense (DOD), NSA, involve outreach/education activities with the postsecondary education community.

Centers for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education | National INFOSEC Education and Training Program (NIETP)

Centers for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, page 74

The Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program was identified as one that could be leveraged to help meet Federal Cyber Services training and education requirements (Section 7.3).

The NSA National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education Program encourages universities to examine their Information Assurance (IA) curricula as well as their university's IA posture, against a set of national standards developed originally for use within the classified community. Currently there are 14 designated centers.

Applications are received from those universities having the most mature IA/information security education programs. Part of the criteria used in judging applicants are a set of national training standards developed originally for use within the classified community. The university submissions to date have demonstrated that those national government standards have a universal applicability, and also serve as yet another independent validation of the content of those standards. There are currently fourteen designated centers. The call for the next set of applications began Sept. 30, 2000, and culminates in May 2001, when successful applicants are presented certificates during the annual meeting of the national INFOSEC Colloquium. These centers figure prominently in the creation of the Federal Cyber Service Program called for in the President's National Plan.

National INFOSEC Education and Training Program, page 75

The President's National Plan identified this program as a model for establishing a partnership between government and universities to develop information assurance programs.

The National INFOSEC Education and Training Program (NIETP) was identified as a model for establishing a partnership between government and universities to develop information assurance programs (Section 7.3).

The National INFOSEC Education and Training Program (NIETP) provides national leadership in the IA community. The NIETP, cited in the President's National Plan as a model for the nation, offers a variety of products and services in IA education and training. Those programs include:

• Sponsorship of the Academic Centers of Excellence in IA Education;
• Sponsorship of the Information Assurance Courseware Evaluation Program;
• Sponsorship of Visiting Professors to U.S. Military and Naval Academies;
• Leadership to the National Colloquium for INFOSEC Education; and
• A variety of additional services and products, which reach out in partnership to business, academia and government.

To further its goals to improve education and training, NSA, working with leaders in academic and business arenas, convened the first National Colloquium for Information Security Education in the spring of 1997. This forum brought together industry, academia and government to discuss national education requirements and solutions for meeting our nation's need for increased numbers of professionals educated in information assurance. In May 2000, the Critical Information Assurance Office hosted the fourth meeting. This gathering of representatives and stakeholders is producing the sharing of courseware and defining requirements in the IA arena.