The Ministry of Education and Culture funds extensive cooperation projects coordinated by the University of Jyväskylä and Jamk University of Applied Sciences, which bring together a network that develops, coordinates and provides higher education in the field of cyber security.
Jamk and University of Jyväskylä each manage their own consortium. Of the funding, EUR 2.26 million will be allocated to a consortium coordinated by the University of Jyväskylä and EUR 1.18 million to a consortium coordinated by Jamk University of Applied Sciences.
"In the past, Finland has lacked a driver of cyber expertise, training and research. An extensive network of higher education institutions is now emerging, which will take over the provision and development of education in the field in a coordinated manner," explains Minister of Science and Culture Petri Honkonen in a press release issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture (in Finnish).
In addition to Jamk, the consortium consists the following universities of applied sciences: Centria, KAMK, Karelia UAS, Lapland UAS, Laurea, Metropolia, OAMK, Police University College, Savonia, TAMK, TurkuAMK, VAMK and XAMK.
The purpose of the development work is to increase cooperation between higher education institutions in the provision of research-based education in the field of cyber security, and to develop and increase the study modules in the field of cyber security available to degree students in different fields. The supply of studies will also be increased for non-degree students. Training can also be arranged in cooperation with foreign higher education institutions.
"The funding granted and the national responsibility for coordinating cyber security education is a great thing and recognition for Jamk from both the Ministry of Education and Culture and the universities of applied sciences participating in the network. While the University of Jyväskylä coordinates the development of cooperation in the university field, the importance of Jyväskylä as a hub for cyber expertise is emphasised. Ultimately, it is a question of utilising and developing the competence of the entire higher education field, a national mission and cybersecurity capability, which has been built on a long-term basis in terms of Jamk's as a unique training environment", Jamk University of Applied Sciences Rector Vesa Saarikoski says.
Jyväskylä has been developing expertise related to cybersecurity for a long time. Since 2013, the RGCE training environment developed by Jamk has been used in national cyber security exercises in which the central government and actors important for the country's critical functions regularly participate.
