“When was the last time you picked up something that didn’t have a computer in it?,” he asked, pointing out that cell phones, digital watches, and cars all run on computers.
“And all these computers aren’t programming themselves,” he said.
The demand for computer programmers through the year 2022 will go up 8 percent, which is above average of other jobs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But specifically, cyber-security professionals are needed, said Cassie Barlow, executive director of the Advanced Technical Intelligence Center.
ATIC is a Beavercreek-based non-profit working to meet the technology and workforce needs of the U.S. intelligence community and related industries.
More than 70 percent job growth in cyber security is projected in the next few years, Barlow said.
“That means that we need to kick it into high gear really quickly to be able to prepare the workforce that’s going to work in this industry,” she said.
Hackers gaining access to public and national data — like credit information from Target shoppers or even the fingerprints of 5.6 million government employees from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — has brought cyber security to the forefront, Barlow said.
ATIC is teaming with Wittenberg for the cyber-security program, providing teachers and computer professionals to train students in the cyber-security track of the major. Students will spend one semester attending classes at the Nextedge Applied Research Technology Park and will graduate the program with a security clearance, directors said.
Each track will be a four-year degree program but it is possible for students to complete either program in three years, Bitterman said.
The university will officially begin enrolling new majors in January of 2016. A minor in computer science is also available.
The return of the degree after two years will hopefully put the liberal arts university on the same level as other schools similar in size to attract prospective students, Bitterman said.
“There’s certainly enough pent up demand for the major,” he said, adding that even though there wasn’t an official major, at least eight incoming freshman this year designated computer science as their main area of interest.
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