A funding bill that would expand federal cybersecurity jobs and invest in scholarships for prospective cyber workers passed the Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate passed the fiscal 2012 Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill, part of which funds multiple cybersecurity initiatives, including the expansion of National Science Foundation student grants to create career tracks in cybersecurity, the addition of 19 new cyber positions at the FBI and the creation of a National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.
More specifically, the bill would create the NCCOE at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md. The bill would provide $10 million for the center as well as NIST's ongoing research on cybersecurity technologies and threats.
"The NCCOE is going to create a hub of innovation and development, a gateway for the private sector to forge partnerships to adopt mutually beneficial research and cyber technology tools that will lead to new jobs," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman of the subcommittee.
The bill also would provide $45 million for NSF's Cyber Scholarship for Service program, tripling the support over 2011 funding levels for undergraduate and graduate students to gain the skills needed for federal cyber jobs. In addition, it would provide $129 million for the FBI to fund 579 cybersecurity jobs and $156.6 million for cybersecurity research at NSF.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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