Kenya’s IT Practitioners Debut The Cyber Shujaa Initiative To Train 2,000 Youth As Cybersecurity Experts

The Eastern African digital ecosystem has a void that has been filled with foreigners securing their cyberspace. The likes of Serianu, United States International University-Africa (USIS-Africa), and the Kenyan Bankers Association have reportedly joined forces to educate the Kenyan population to be certified cybersecurity practitioners via the cyber training initiative dubbed Cyber Shujaa, Techbooky writes.

The Cyber Shujaa initiative is designed to educate a maximum of two thousand professionals — who have basic knowledge tied with an IT-based degree. The Cyber Shujaa empowerment initiative schemes to solidify the foundation of IT personnel as well as strengthen the Kenyan cybersecurity ecosystem rather than depend on expensive foreigners who pose as a liability to their economic standard.

On the other hand, Cyber Shujaa pose as an employment strategy for certified IT practitioners who have passed through the innovative experience of cybersecurity solutions in terms of developing their cyber skills through the Shujaa initiative. The orchestrators of the program have deemed fit to employ certified participants to judiciously implement their cyber skillset into the organized employment framework reserved for certified cybersecurity veterans.

The orchestrators of Cyber Shujaa revealed that the initiative also serves as an empowerment program for women. Cyber Shujaa is schemed to target a thousand women to equip their cyber skillset as security professionals which bridge the gap between opposite-sex differences and the gap between the technology industry and the training institutions.

The vice-chancellor of USIS-Africa, Professor Freida Brown, revealed more concern about impacting the lives of Kenyan youngsters to become cybersecurity entrepreneurs. The Cyber Shujaa initiative schemed to support the least thirty youngsters in developing their cyber skillset. Brown also acknowledged the availability of the University’s research facility to innovate cyberspace and the Kenyan technology industry.

Brown’s university as a tool for studying to bolster the Cyber Shujaa initiative serves as a civil service to empower society rather than depend on government failed resources. The Shujaa initiative holds a futuristic development that started after they all signed the Memorandum of Understanding that brands Cyber Shujaa as a licensed institute that issues a government-approved certificate of a cybersecurity veteran that will be recognized nationwide.

Meanwhile, other cybersecurity programs such as the Center Informatics Research and Innovation (CIRI) have struggled to gain recognition as cybersecurity institution that is likely to meet up Cyber Shujaa’s standard in five years to come.

Serianu’s CEO, William Makatiani, disclosed the research report his cybersecurity firm discovered about the Kenyan cyberspace that lacks the required expertise that encourages the outraging rise of cybercrime. Makatiani said that Kenyan cyberspace should be geared to employ a minimum of one thousand cybersecurity practitioners yearly to strengthen their cyber firewall from losing billions to cybercriminals.

Serianu’s research also revealed that the feminine Kenyan population has indulged in IT solutions as a career path. It is a no-brainer that Cyber Shujaa will accelerate the growth of cybersecurity veterans in Kenya and spread across Eastern Africa. “We recognized that a multi-agency approach to creating a pathway for learners to transition into the industry as practicing cybersecurity executives is key to bridging the local skills gap,” Makatiani said.

The MoU demands a specific role-play by the organizers to proceed with the Cyber Shujaa initiative:
• The KBA will supply the “market intelligence” that will impact knowledge on curriculum development.
• The USIS-Africa will innovate the KBA’s intelligence to match the IQ of the trainees.
• The Serianu will lead the technical aspect to practical training and assimilation.

In sum, the Kenyan Bankers’ chief executive, Habil Olaka, said “as the umbrella body of commercial banks, the Kenya Bankers Association remains committed to applying innovative solutions to security challenges and will continue to engage in partnerships that seek to deliver value to our stakeholders, the banking public and the economy at large.”

The financial sector has adopted technology entirely to accelerate its economic standard which has made it prone to digital fraud. Penetrating an encrypted banking system secured with technology can be done with a click such as stealing an identity or cloning an identity, phishing attacks, etc. Olaka noted the Cyber Shujaa poses as a predator of cybercrime to counter possible attacks even at the expense of stolen identity.