World Youth Skills Day 2023: Engaging Youth with Cybersecurity

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship. “Young people are drivers of change and must be fully engaged in decisions affecting their future,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

World Youth Skills Day 2023 theme is Skilling Teachers, Trainers, and Youth for a Transformative Future. It highlights the essential role of teachers, trainers, and other educators in providing skills for youth to transition to the labor market and actively engage in their communities and societies. Technological advancements and shifting labor market dynamics increasingly require agile and adaptable skill sets. We must empower young people to navigate these changes effectively.

The cybersecurity skills shortage

This year’s theme couldn’t be a better match for engaging young people with cybersecurity. Cybercrime is one of the most challenging issues today, and cyberattacks have affected the operations of governments, businesses, and individuals. Cyberattacks impact people in various ways. For example, Colonial Pipeline was forced to go offline due to a cyberattack, which caused a severe short-term gas shortage in multiple states and impacted the lives of millions of people.

Technology companies are investing in cybersecurity monetarily and technically. Following the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack, the White House in the US issued an executive order to prioritize technology security across the country. However, the country experiences a severe shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals due to a lack of graduates with STEM degrees.

Furthermore, the STEM workforce shortage is

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