The Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program has announced a program rebranding, as well as an update to their degree offerings and research focus.
The newly titled Technology, Cybersecurity and Policy (TCP) Program, , signals an awareness of the current revolution in communication technology and CU鈥檚 commitment to meeting the needs of the workforce for the state and nation, bolstering national security and preparing students to lead in cybersecurity, which is increasingly becoming a significant global听issue.听
The updated program celebrated its launch with a , who spoke to students about the importance of cybersecurity in fair elections, and Colorado Department of State听Chief Technology Officer听Rich Schliep,听who shared strategies their department uses to protect citizens and that听have made Colorado a leader in voter security.听
鈥淐olorado has become a leading technology hub and one of the top places for cybersecurity, with a wide variety of established companies and innovative startups located here,鈥� said Daniel Massey, TCP director and former program manager in the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Cybersecurity Division. 鈥淐olorado is also a center of government and military cybersecurity activity, so it makes sense for CU 麻豆影院, as the state鈥檚 leading research university, to put our focus here.鈥澨�
Nationally, there is a critical shortage of cybersecurity professionals. Several estimates project a workforce shortage of听3.5 million people听in cybersecurity by 2023. According to Cyberseek, a digital tracker of cybersecurity jobs supported by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, there are currently 10,207 cybersecurity job openings in Colorado, the fourth highest rate per capita in the country.
鈥淭he TCP program is a great example of how CU is innovating to meet the workforce demands of our state and contribute to the security of our nation,鈥� said Bobby Braun, dean of CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 College of Engineering and Applied Science. 鈥淲hile many programs focus on graduating students who are technologically adept, TCP layers policy and entrepreneurship training onto hands-on experience in state-of-the-art labs to graduate cybersecurity leaders.鈥澨�
The revamped program currently offers three degrees: a professional master鈥檚 in network engineering, a master鈥檚 and PhD in cybersecurity and technology leadership, and a new professional master鈥檚 in cybersecurity. It also has strong ties to the National Security Agency, as听one of its 16 Campus Ambassador universities, and the U.S. Department of Defense through programs such as the Designing for Defense course, as well as tuition-assistance and Yellow Ribbon programs for veterans.听
TCP traces its roots back to its founding in 1971 as the Interdisciplinary Telecom Program (ITP) at a time when the county鈥檚 telecommunications system was centralized and well before AT&T was split into seven regional phone systems. 麻豆影院 was already a听leader in telecom at the time, hosting one of the early ARPANET nodes at the Department of Commerce 麻豆影院. Since that time, telecommunications has expanded and evolved to the internet and home services through the Internet of Things.
鈥淚n 1970 there was a serious gap between the understanding of telecommunications technology and the policy controlling its implementation,鈥� said Distinguished Professor Frank Barnes, co-founder of ITP. 鈥淚TP was the first to include law and policy along with the economics and the technology at the MS level to train both engineers and non-engineers to lead the major changes taking place in the communications industry. This critical backbone of TCP is needed now more than ever as network communication technologies advance and require greater security, regulation听and design. We are in the business of developing leaders today for the technology of tomorrow."