Intelligent CISO Issue 29 | Page 45

industry unlocked assist individuals looking to learn new skills or expand their current cybersecurity knowledge so they can enter the field or progress in their career growth. • Help untapped candidates launch their careers: Fortinet and IBM are providing more learning opportunities to candidates who may typically be overlooked for a role in cybersecurity. These untapped candidates include those with long-term unemployment or underemployment, young adults without traditional degrees, refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, career changers, veterans and military spouses. Fortinet and IBM are both working with non-profits focused on the military community worldwide – including CASY, SaluteMyJob and Soldier On – to provide veterans and military spouses training and skills to enter the workforce. • Connect learners to employers: Through Fortinet’s Security Academy Programme and Veterans Programme, Fortinet connects veterans and veteran spouses to its ecosystem of partners and customers. Many of them have secured employment in cybersecurity as a result. Now, Fortinet will work to extend its ecosystem of hiring partners and customers to learners on the SkillsBuild platform as well. • Offer further recognition of skills: Through IBM’s SkillsBuild, learners can earn badges that offer tangible evidence to employers of their expertise, including a cybersecurity badge for the courses leveraging Fortinet’s curriculum. These badges prepare learners towards a path to receive technology-focused certifications, such as Fortinet’s eight-level Certification Programme. Technology-focused certifications are highly valued by employees as seen with a recent Fortinet survey that found that 82% of organisations prefer to hire candidates with certifications. Fortinet’s corporate social responsibility initiatives One focus area of Fortinet’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives is addressing the cybersecurity skills gap by collaborating with other businesses, academic institutions through the Security Academy Programme and governments around the world. Fortinet partners with global leaders from various sectors to help shape the future Fortinet and IBM are providing more learning opportunities to candidates who may typically be overlooked for a role in cybersecurity. of cybersecurity and to build new opportunities in the digital economy. In addition to its strategic partnership with IBM to further develop the cybersecurity talent pool, Fortinet is a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Centre for Cybersecurity and the Cyber Threat Alliance. Fortinet also has a partnership with the NATO Communications and Information Agency and is a member of an expert working group within INTERPOL. Additionally, Fortinet offers training and certifications through the NSE Training Institute to further develop skills and reskill or upskill IT professionals to fill the talent shortage. Fortinet recently made all of its NSE Training Institute’s self-paced security training courses available for free to help address the rapidly evolving needs of organisations securing highly distributed and remote workforces. These courses provide individuals the opportunity to gain new knowledge or upskill. Lisa Neddam, SkillsBuild Programme Leader, IBM Corporate Social Responsibility, said: “Some of the toughest challenges businesses are facing today need skills that don’t require a traditional degree, such as cybersecurity experts, which is why there is a critical need to make sure everyone, from job seekers to professionals transitioning to new careers, are gaining meaningful skills that align to industry needs. That’s why, regardless of background, education or life experience, SkillsBuild will equip learners with the professional skills www.intelligentciso.com | Issue 29 45