Page 12 - GCN, June/july 2017

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The secret source for cybersecurity hires
Read Me
What: “AI-Augmented Government: Using Cognitive Technologies to Redesign Public-Sector Work,” a report by the Deloitte Center for Government Insights.
Why: At a minimum, artificial intelligence tools could save 96.7 million federal hours annually, which would mean potential savings
of $3.3 billion, the report states. Some of the ways AI could help government become more efficient:
• Reduce paperwork. The federal government spends a half-
billion hours every year recording information, which AI technologies could do in a number of areas.
• Cut backlogs. Cognitive technologies could sift through backlogs and perform simple, repetitive actions, leaving difficult cases to human experts.
• Enable smart cities. When combined with an internet-of-things infrastructure, AI could monitor the surrounding environment to adjust traffic lights during rush hour, for instance.
• Predict outcomes. Machine learning and natural-language processing could spot patterns and suggest responses.
• Answer questions. Automation could offload work from call centers that answer many of the same questions multiple times a day.
The full report is available at
is.gd/GCN_AI.
8
GCN JUNE/JULY 2017 • GCN.COM
BY TROY K. SCHNEIDER
Government agencies are often at
a disadvantage when trying to hire talented cybersecurity professionals because they cannot match the salaries the private sector offers. And although top federal agencies can tout their national security angle and cutting- edge missions, the average state or local job is usually not nearly as sexy.
When it comes to recruiting recent graduates, however, governments at all levels have a little-known tool
at their disposal: the federal govern- ment’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the program gives grants to participating four-year colleges and universities so they can attract under- graduate and graduate students to the cybersecurity field.
Scholarship recipients commit to a year of government employment for each year of the scholarship — effectively giving interested agencies an exclusive talent pool from which to recruit.
“Almost all those individuals go to federal agencies to work to fulfill their grant requirements,” said Minnesota Chief Information Security Officer Christopher Buse, who spoke about the program at the National Association of State CIOs conference in April. But employment with state, local and tribal governments
counts, too.
Scholarship recipients get an
average of $50,000 per year, Buse
said — which covers tuition, room and board and includes a stipend.
Some students begin their government work while still in school. Buse cited one of his hires as an example: The student is a full-time employee who works nights and weekends for the
state with an annual salary of more than $60,000.
As a scholarship recipient, mean- while, the individual is getting a free education, housing and a $25,000-per- year stipend.
Not surprisingly, such a generous program attracts significant interest among students, and Buse said participating schools generally receive 15 applicants for every scholarship granted. That highly competitive process helps agencies because only the best students make it into the program, he added.
“The people we have coming out are phenomenally talented,” he said.
Government participation is not nearly so robust. The program holds an in-person career fair each January, and Buse said Minnesota and Iowa were the only states to recruit there last year — and he had persuaded his Iowa colleague to attend.
“It’s kind of sad that we don’t have more participation in the program,” Buse said. “It’s a good thing from
my perspective, though. I had 200 résumés from top students who all had master’s degrees \\\[and\\\] multiple programming languages....
You’re picking from the cream of the crop.”
Nearly 70 accredited schools
take part in the scholarship program, which means there are graduates scattered across the country who
are seeking government work. Four schools near Minneapolis-St. Paul
take part, Buse said, and he has found that many graduates want to stay close to home.
“It’s like shooting fish in a bucket,” he said. Because few non-federal agencies hire through the program, “there’s just not a lot of competition.... \\\[But\\\] not everyone wants to work inside the Beltway.” •