Telangana government along with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has introduced a specialized course to train students in cyber security. This addition was made to open new avenues for students who plan to pursue engineering from Hyderabad. It was announced while keeping in view the state government’s plan to have its own cyber security policy in place in next few years.
Soon, all the students taking up engineering in Telangana will be skilled in cyber security
While many are looking at it as just another addition to the curriculum, the Regional Director of Nasscom, Srikanth Srinivas believes that this course is more than just ‘a filler’. Experts claim that the students will certainly benefit from this course. A recent study showed there are over 5 lakh jobs that are available in the cyber security sector and only 10,000 people meet the demand. As a result, Nasscom took up an initiative to introduce the cyber security course across more colleges in Hyderabad.
“The future of everything is on the internet and with that comes a need to secure our cyberspace. Yes, we have started this course to help fill the current lot of vacancies in the field, but it also aims at making the engineering students employable, ready and trained for the new market,” Srinivas said.
“Currently, the course is under the purview of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. We see promising signs, even though we started with only a few colleges. Students are not yet aware of the reputation this course will bring to their portfolio. But we are confident that in a couple of years, people will realize its value, and we will be up and running,” a confident Srikanth added.
But it isn’t just Nasscom that is urging students to take up a course in cyber security. Yughandhar, the coordinator at CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science too believes that there is a lot that can be done in this field.
“The current options are saturating. It is the need of the hour for people to upgrade themselves as per the changing times. Studying cyber security is one of the important steps to doing that. Considering the plans of the Telangana government and the courses we offer, it is possible that Hyderabad will become a hub for cyber security education,” he adds.
The three-semester course has been added to the third year’s second semester at some colleges. It will soon spread to other engineering colleges in Hyderabad giving students an edge over their counterparts from the rest of the country. According to sources, the CR Rao Institute has also tied up with the state government to formulate a full time course in cyber security for all the engineering students in Telangana.