Mar 21 2009 9:09PM GMT
Posted by: John Little
scholarship,
us government,
cybersecurity,
scholarships,
technology,
federal agency,
Security,
computer security
The US Government give you a full scholarship for college if you want to become a cybersecurity specialist. The scholarship covers room and board, books and tuition.
The obvious question here is “What do I have to give them in return?” Two years of government service at a federal agency in a cybersecurity position. That’s not a whole to ask in my opinion. Think about. Your getting a paid-for education in a field whose demand is only going to grow and all you have to do is work at a federal agency for two year using what you majored in at college. Not bad.
The program, known as SFS (Scholarship for Service), is run by run jointly by the National Science Foundation and DHS. SFS is quickly becoming known for more than just recruiting talent for their scholarships:
In the information assurance community, SFS is becoming widely recognized as indispensable, especially when government demand for highly skilled information technology security professionals is surging because of Information Systems Management Act requirements, the inexorable growth in security operations centers and an impending wave of retirements.
Michelle Kwon who graduated from the program has this to say about it
“When I graduated from the SFS program, I really thought I was going to do my two years [of government service] and then jump to industry and make big bucks,” Kwon said. “But I was given opportunities through the program that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
Michelle is now in a high-powered position as director of the Homeland Security Department’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. Last year she was named director of US-CERT.
You can read more about the program here.
If I were a student and looking for a way to go to college this would be a fantastic way to go.
-j
Mar 15 2009 6:43PM GMT
Posted by: John Little
open source,
us government,
tax payer,
taxes
The Collaborative Software Initiative and other backers of Open Source Software sent a letter to President Obama requesting that he mandate federal agencies consider how software purchased by the federal government is developed.
The letter stated that the open and collaborative way that open source software is developed mirrors the way that Obama wants to shape the government. It’s openness for for development and collaboration transparency is the way that Obama has said that he wants the US government to be in all of it’s dealings. The letter was signed by Collaborative Software Initiative Senior Developer David Christiansen and Chief Executive Officer Stuart Cohen, along with 14 CEOs of software development companies,
Paul Jones, an information science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill says that Open-source software is already widely used by the military and intelligence agencies. He also believes that software developers are not likely to get an exclusive open-source mandate and that open-source solutions should compete on their merits, which are many.
“In some cases, open-source, or at the very least open formats, should be required so that the software, procedures…can be audited,” Jones said. “For archiving purposes, and for Freedom of Information Act purposes, software source and format definitions should be at minimum placed in escrow.”
The letter went on to say that open source reduces costs in the areas of application hosting and development and added that “the Obama administration should consider open-source software in its effort to standardize and digitize medical records”.
I for one am all for this. At the very least it makes agencies move away from Microsoft FUD and consider other alternatives for technology needs. In turn, if the software stands on it’s own merits and provides the required functionality, which I it will, the financial burden of the tax payers is greatly reduced.
References: Federal Computer Week
-j
