The worldwide shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals exceeds 3.12 million individuals, according to research conducted by cybersecurity professional association (ISC)2. This means the global cybersecurity workforce must grow at a staggering rate just to meet the exploding demand for professional-grade talent.

To help address this problem, Fortinet continues to develop and evolve its partnerships and training and certification programs. These efforts are all part of the company's Training Advancement Agenda (TAA) and NSE Training Institute programs, a multifaceted approach to tackling the skills gap and serving the global community.

TAA and NSE Training Institute programs

By increasing access to critical training, developing cybersecurity career pathways, and connecting individuals to employers, the Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Training Institute is making significant strides in furthering Fortinet's TAA. The NSE Training Institute — which includes the certification program, the Security Academy Program, the Veterans Program, Authorized Training Centers, and the Information Security Awareness and Training Service— was established to address the widening cyber skills gap plaguing the industry.

The NSE Training Institute continues to grow around the world, serving IT and security professionals and underrepresented populations. Since its inception, the NSE Training Institute has evolved to offer an eight-level certification program, combined with nearly 400 hours of supporting training curriculum.

The NSE has recently expanded its offerings, including more than 30 free, self-paced technical training courses. The NSE Training Institute welcomes new global partners working alongside Fortinet to close the cybersecurity skills gap, including Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS), Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

One way the Training Advancement Agenda is making strides is through the multiple NSE courses to reduce the cyber skills gap through training and certifications, career opportunities and partnerships. Below are some recent NSE Training Institute milestones.

Encouraging cyber awareness in children — To further increase cyber awareness among children between the ages of 7 and 12, Fortinet recently released a children's book. Cyber Safe: A Dog's Guide to Internet Security was co-authored by Renee Tarun, deputy CISO at Fortinet.

Delivering training via Fortinet Authorized Training Centers — Fortinet has more than 80 Authorized Training Centers (ATCs) worldwide, a network of training facilities that deliver expert-level training in local languages. The company is continuing to expand the locations of training center partners to further the reach of NSE training. Fortinet's ATCs are currently providing instruction in 72 countries and territories and can deliver training and local cultural support in 22 different languages.

Facilitating career transition — To further facilitate the transition into a career in cybersecurity, Fortinet has developed specific education pathways. These pathways were created to help align Fortinet training and certifications with roles defined in the Cybersecurity Workforce Framework developed by National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), a part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Fortinet has defined four pathways for learners in some of the most critical areas in the industry: security operations, security-driven networking, adaptive cloud security and zero-trust network.

Ongoing collaboration on the Cybersecurity Learning hub —Fortinet is a founding partner of World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity and continues to build on its partnership with Salesforce.com and WEF on the Cybersecurity Learning Hub initiative.

The Cybersecurity Learning Hub uses NSE Level 1 and 2 courses to further address the global skills gap. Together, Fortinet and the Cybersecurity Learning Hub have created four badges to cover the topics of personal digital security, cybersecurity threat and threat actors, digital asset security and cloud security engineering.

Toward a more secure tomorrow

As both a technology company and learning organization Fortinet is committed to contributing to finding solutions to today's biggest cyber challenges, including the talent shortage the cybersecurity industry faces. Through its Training Advancement Agenda, Fortinet is working to solve the cyber skills gap by offering training, connecting professionals to employers and forging partnerships to bring untapped talent into the industry.