News
Developing a Strong Cybersecurity Workforce: Introducing the European Cybersecurity Skills Framework
September 2022 by ENISA
Designed to contribute to building a competent cybersecurity workforce, the European Cybersecurity Skills Framework was the focus of the conference organised over the past two days by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
The Cybersecurity Skills Conference highlighted the actions taken by ENISA to create a common understanding of the roles, competencies, skills and expert knowledge required to engage in a professional activity in the field and introduced the features of the new European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF).
Closing remarks were delivered by Despina Spanou, Head of Cabinet for European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, who stated: "The EU is equipped with a pioneering regulatory cybersecurity ecosystem supported by competent authorities such as ENISA and the new European Cybersecurity Competence Centre. We now need to make sure that we address what could become our biggest challenge: how to have the right people with the right skills to shield our citizens and our economies from ever more pervasive cyberattacks across all critical sectors. On the eve of 2023 European Year of Skills, the European Cybersecurity Skills Framework will be a tangible tool to help identifying the profiles of jobs that are the most necessary in the field. It can become an enabler of a common European language on cybersecurity skills across the whole European cyber ecosystem and a building block for the Commission’s work on a genuine Cybersecurity Skills Academy"
ENISA’s Executive Director Juhan Lepassaar said: "The future security of our digital world will heavily depend on our capacity to develop an efficient & adequate cybersecurity workforce. The cybersecurity job market is expected to soar further. By improving skills recognition and supporting the design of cybersecurity-related training programmes, the new framework announced today is a big step in the right direction."
About the framework
With a total of 12 cybersecurity related roles identified, the framework explores the associated responsibilities, skills, synergies and interdependencies associated with each of these profiles.
The framework also supports the design of cybersecurity related training programmes.
Supported by a user manual - standing as a practical guide based on examples and use cases - the framework opens a window to the different ways it can be used.
The European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF) is the result of the joint effort of ENISA and the ENISA Ad-hoc working group on Cybersecurity Skills Framework, formed by 17 experts from 14 Member States. The first draft was presented to the public in April 2022, in addition to being discussed with several research projects - including the 4 EU pilot projects that prepared the way for the European Cybersecurity Centre and Competence Network and an Erasmus+ project on skills-Rewire.
About the Skills conference
The conference showed how ENISA is engaged in efforts to build a skilled cybersecurity workforce. The European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF) presented is part of this effort.
Attendants came from various sectors/areas such as public administrations working on skills, cybersecurity private organisations with an interest in building a competent workforce, professional associations, researchers, academics, and providers of training programmes.
