Looks to create standard track to fill thousands of open positions

President Donald Trump Thursday (May 2) issued an executive order meant to boost the government cybersecurity workforce, standardize and incentivize cybersecurity education, and get everyone on the same cyber page with a common cybersecurity "language."

According to senior administration officials speaking on background, that will include an annual President's Cup Cyber challenge to identify the best and brightest, awards programs for primary and secondary school educators, and more, all with an eye toward increasing the sense of urgency about closing the gaps in protecting critical infrastructure and plugging the many holes in the workforce.

The government will also work on boosting pay scales to meet the market demand for those high-skilled workers, given that there are thousands of open government cybersecurity positions that need filling.

The Trump Administration is looking for a wider, and more diverse, pool of talent, by coming up with a standard curriculum and common language, with the help of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), they said.

The White House will also look to the infrastructure community outside the government to identify cybersecurity workforce gaps and will continue to partner with industry on cybersecurity.

The workforce executive order will also create a cybersecurity rotation, in which government employees will move throughout various government agencies. The Department of Homeland Security will work with NIST to develop aptitude and assessment tools to help re-skill and up-skill federal workers for cybersecurity duty.