Cyber Academy’s inaugural class to bolster city defenses
Busakorn Pongparnit/Getty Images
The 21 New York City employees will work with city cyber command offices and help build a local pipeline of cybersecurity workers.
New York City graduated 21 employees from the first cohort of its Cyber Academy, Mayor Eric Adams and other city leaders announced earlier this week.
Each member of the cohort represents one agency and will serve as liaisons to the city’s Office of Cyber Command, as well as the primary contact with the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation’s Cyber Command. That is in keeping with an executive order Adams issued last year establishing the Office of Cyber Command, which specified that city departments have a liaison to that newly created agency.
The Cyber Academy is a specialized training program that city leaders said is designed to build a pipeline of cybersecurity workers, while ensuring agencies’ can defend against threats to their essential services and critical infrastructure. The web-based program featured tuition by instructors as well as hands-on learning focused on incident response, network security and cyber threat intelligence.
The graduates represented a wide swath of agencies, including the fire and police departments, as well as the Departments of City Planning, Finance, Technology and Innovation, Transportation, and Health and Mental Hygiene, among others.
In a statement, Adams said this first graduating class in New York City “will be our guardians by building a pipeline of cyber expertise.”
The effort comes as states and localities look to bolster a cybersecurity and technology workforce that national groups warn is facing enormous challenges and shortages. The Indiana Office of Technology, for example, has embraced apprenticeship programs that provide on-the-job training for those wishing to transition into IT, technology or cybersecurity careers in the public sector.
Future Cyber Academy cohorts are expected this spring and fall in New York City for agencies that did not participate this time around. Officials said the goal is to have a graduate in each city agency and office by the end of next year.