Cyberbiosecurity Workforce Preparation

Abstract

Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field at the convergence of life sciences and the digital world. As technological advances improve operational processes and expose them to vulnerabilities in agriculture and life sciences, cyberbiosecurity has become increasingly important for addressing contemporary concerns. Unfortunately, at this time, educational opportunities for cyberbiosecurity workforce preparation are limited. Stakeholders’ perceptions may help guide cyberbiosecurity workforce preparation efforts and bridge the gap from the classroom to the field. Toward this end, we identified stakeholders in education, private industry, and state agencies in Virginia and sought their input through both an online survey and focus groups. Findings suggest limited awareness and understanding of cyberbiosecurity. Results indicate that both formal and non-formal learning components—including short modules and comprehensive standalone courses—are important for cyberbiosecurity education programming. Stakeholders tied potential success of education programming to systems thinking and collaborative designs. Moreover, results reveal insights into concerns at the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), which is central to effective workforce preparation for today’s agriculture and life sciences professionals. Continuous interdisciplinary collaboration and academia-industry partnerships will be critical for developing robust cyberbiosecurity education and securing the future of agriculture.

Organoids, Biocybersecurity, and Cyberbiosecurity—A Light Exploration

“…The collaboration between cybersecurity experts and biologists across governments, industries, and community labs across multiple levels is essential in developing and implementing effective CBS strategies; this has been spoken of at length by numerous authors [190][191][192][193][194]. They highlight the importance of such interdisciplinary collaborations, which bring together the expertise of cybersecurity professionals with the domain knowledge of biologists.…”