From Forbes:

Thinking outside the box, the ICS Village, with The Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP), Cyber Bytes Foundation, and R Street Institute, sponsored a day-long event called Hack the Capitol on September 16 that went far beyond a traditional conference with lectures where everyone sits quietly in the audience.

Aimed at raising education and awareness to Congressional staffers, think tanks, and press, the event provided an opportunity to bring different stakeholders together to learn and share with one another. These conversations are helpful for not only increasing know-how among participants today, but also inaugurating relationships that may last months if not years. That is, connecting policymakers and technical experts together allows both sides to learn from one another and understand the where to turn when questions arise.

Understanding Supply Chain Vulnerability

One of the important lessons from Hack the Capitol was that cybersecurity is much more than simply securing a device or piece of software. Digital goods and services generally contain a wide array of linkages that span across organizations and sub-industries. In this sense, we need to think of cybersecurity using a systems approach that examines the interconnectedness of all the players and events.

Hack the Capitol, and other similar events, come at an especially important time for at least two reasons. First, they bring people together, ranging from technical experts to policymakers, who need each other to more effectively solve problems. Second, they provide an opportunity for experiential learning that highlights the expansiveness of cybersecurity beyond the traditional archetype that it’s just about sitting behind a computer.

To fill the cyber skills gap, we need to find ways to communicate knowledge so that it not only sticks, but also resonates and appeals to a new generation of learners who are hungry for purpose.

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