Lviv IT Cluster continues to modernize tech education in Ukraine. Among four degree programs the Cluster is planning to launch this year in collaboration with local IT companies – two Bachelor’s programs in Cybersecurity at Lviv Polytechnic National University and at Lviv State University of Life Safety.
Including technologies and processes designed to protect systems, networks, and data from potential hacking attacks, cybersecurity is an in-demand field nowadays. Security engineers are highly needed at IT companies, state and private departments and organizations as well as in the police. Lviv IT Cluster has united IT experts from local companies and university professors to work on modernizing degree programs to meet the requirements of the modern job market. The group of 30 experts was created to develop the programs for two universities in Lviv – the oldest Lviv tech school – Lviv Polytechnic and Lviv State University of Life Safety.
“Cybersecurity is no longer an issue to be taken lightly. Be it an individual or a corporation that is under attack, it brings a huge amount of damage. Last year was terrible not only for a bunch of organizations but also countries which were infected by a massive ransomware. Cyber attacks are now on the rise coming in many different forms and are always evolving. To fight them efficiently we need a pool of qualified professionals who will continuously assess existing and potential threats, and adjust security systems respectively and make them resistant to attacks.” – comments Michael Kropyva, Lead of Cybersecurity programs and InfoSec Director at SoftServe.
The new Cybersecurity programs aim is to train experts who will be able to monitor systems and networks for intrusions, identify and analyze security incidents; to work with information security systems; to perform security audits, risk analysis, network forensics and penetration testing.
“Starting with the first year of university, the future professionals will learn the IT service management (ITIL), and the Fundamentals of Cybersecurity. After taking these courses, students will not only understand the main cybersecurity risks and threats but will also learn tools for protection and intrusion in modern information systems. During the first two years, students will also study courses in two programming languages – Python і C#. We aim to teach them everything about cybersecurity tools – collecting logs and their types, Netflow, IDS, Vulnerability scanning, SIEM; network intrusion and safety methods; operating systems protection and security; WEB – app development and security, cryptography. Another part of the program will focus on enterprise information security and analysis of cybersecurity threats according to global standards.” – сomments Volodymyr Samotyi, lecturer, Deputy Head at the Department of Information Security Management, Lviv State University of Life Safety.
During the studies, students will get a high-quality education based on the latest tech developments: they will work on real cases, learn to develop and present their own projects. Moreover, the students will work with mentors – experienced security engineers, have internships at local IT companies and visit workshops and lectures in Cybersecurity. By introducing a more practical approach, the program creators are hoping to reduce the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge of students.
“Investing in education is the best way to make a positive impact on our future. Investing our time, money, and efforts will definitely pay off, and, in a few years, we will receive the first IT professionals who are so needed by the IT industry today. – says Stepan Veselovskyi, CEO, Lviv IT Cluster. The new degree programs initiated by Lviv IT Cluster are our first steps in global changing of Ukrainian education system. Being developed by IT specialists they are not similar to any others degree programs across the country, and we, Lviv IT Cluster, could not be more proud of them.”
The Cybersecurity programs will be launched at the Institute of Computer Technologies, Automation, and Information, Department of Information Security at Lviv Polytechnic, and at the Educational and Research Institute of Civil Defense, Department of Information Security Management at Lviv State University of Life Safety. The programs, designed for 180 students, will officially open the doors in September 2018.
In addition to Cybersecurity programs, Lviv IT Cluster will also launch two more Bachelor’s programs this year – Robotics and Business Analytics & Data Science at Lviv Polytechnic. The first Cluster’s innovative program Internet of Things was launched at Lviv Polytechnic in 2016. Since then, the Cluster together with IT experts initiated two more programs – Artificial Intelligence at Lviv Polytechnic and Data Science & Intelligent Systems at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Moreover, two other programs have been modernized – Data Science and Computer Science at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Right now, 456 students are studying on the Cluster’s degree programs.