The NSW Institute of Applied Technology – Digital (IAT-D) welcomed its first cohort of students on Monday as it launched its new training programs with Cyber Security as a signature discipline for future cyber security workers.

The IATD is a new form of tertiary education established by the NSW Government as part of the recommendations from the Gonski-Shergold Review of the NSW Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, with a purpose-built facility at Tafe NSW Meadowbank campus. As part of the facility, Macquarie University has partnered with TAFE NSW, Microsoft and University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to develop unique educational offerings in cybersecurity, AI, data science and others and to build a state-of-the-art cyber range training centre.

The initiative aims to provide future cyber workers with cyber security microcredentials designed by trusted industry and education experts.

Training for a wide range of cyber security roles – from technical through to governance, leadership and cyber policy – will be aimed at school leavers as well as workers wanting to reskill and enter the cyber security sector, which will need an estimated 16,600 extra workers by 2026. To enable greater diversity in the cyber security workforce, an initial 100 scholarships for a pilot cohort of students, supported by an additional $2.350M Federal Government Cyber Skills partnership grant secured by MQ, will focus on offering training to women, Aboriginal people, the neurodiverse, and people in regional areas.

The IATD is based in state-of-the-art facilities in Meadowbank which includes a purpose-built cyber range training centre equipped with a virtual cyber ‘range’ and cyber-physical simulation system that will provide an environment to hone specialist technical and transferrable or ‘soft’ skills using real-life scenarios.

Microcredentials will enable learners to customise and upskill in specialised areas, with training at foundational, intermediate and advanced levels designed for specific job outcomes ranging from the technical skills of cyber security to cyber governance and policy compliance functions. “In reaching this milestone I’d like to acknowledge the contribution of staff from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts – Education and Law, and IT,” said Executive Dean Lucy Marshall, Faculty of Science and Engineering.

“Specifically thank you and congratulations to Magnus Nyden for his leadership in the initial stages of the project, Dali Kaafar, Peter McCarthy, Grant Hose and Michael Chen. The development and delivery of microcredentials is being undertaken by staff in the School of Computing, the Cyber Security Hub, Faculty of Arts and the FSE learning development team.

“It has truly been collaborative effort resulting in a world-first that represents a major asset for NSW and the nation.”