Sammons will participate in a panel discussion titled “Higher Education – Partnerships and Investments Advancing Cyber,” speaking along with Nancy Ligus of the West Virginia Community and Technical College System and Brian Woerner of West Virginia University, as well as moderator Matt Turner of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.
The conference focuses on the demand for software coding and cybersecurity workers and efforts to develop a cyber workforce talent pipeline, as well as highlighting best practices.
“As the cyber security industry continues to grow here in West Virginia, higher education will continue to play a critical role,” Sammons said. “Sustained growth will require a skilled and educated workforce, which the universities and community and technical colleges are providing. Conferences like this one are important to get the word out that West Virginia is indeed a viable location for cyber security businesses and government entities. For far too long, too many of our best and brightest had to leave the state in order to find STEM jobs like those in cyber security. We now have a path forward that will give these folks the ability to stay here in West Virginia.”
For more information about the summit, visit https://techconnectwv.org/events/2019-coding-cyber-summit/. For more information about Marshall’s digital forensics and information assurance program, visit https://www.marshall.edu/forensicsciences/dfia/.