Cybersecurity, Compliance, and Health Informatics: Education for the Future

This project aims to serve the national interest by producing more qualified technicians to meet workforce demands in cybersecurity. Keeping computers and information systems secure is a critical need and a major challenge in business, industry, and government. The growth of cyber-threats has created a need for many more workers who have the knowledge and skills to protect both existing and emerging technologies. In this project, the investigators will enhance the college's cybersecurity program, with a focus on industry needs that have emerged in healthcare informatics and Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). Specifically, the investigators aim to develop an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program in cybersecurity and to incorporate new courses that will prepare students for employment as cybersecurity professionals in the large healthcare industry in Maryland, as well as in other industries that require knowledge of cybersecurity GRC. The curriculum will be designed to be accessible to cybersecurity students as well as students with concentrations in allied health and business. The project includes significant professional development in healthcare informatics and GRC for the faculty members who are developing the program. The new program will support local industries that have documented demand for cybersecurity practitioners. With respect to healthcare informatics, the region has a large number of healthcare organizations, including the Johns Hopkins Medical System as well as a hospital and medical campus adjacent to the Howard Community College campus. The new AAS program will be designed to replace the college's Associate of Arts (AA) degree in cybersecurity and to give students more workforce-ready skills. The new healthcare informatics course will emphasize the integration of information technology, cybersecurity, and healthcare systems. It will cover principles of cybersecurity; cloud computing; electronic health records; legal and ethical issues, including compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); and the emerging role of artificial intelligence and data management tools. The course will incorporate hands-on exercises based on collaboration with industry practitioners, and it will use the college's Cyber Ready Clinic to give students firsthand experience working with small businesses in the medical field. The new GRC course will cover relevant laws and regulations, frameworks used to integrate security and privacy within organizational objectives, and the development and assessment of strategies for GRC implementation in different organizations. The course will aim to prepare students to work in organizations that must comply with specific GRC frameworks, and the content will align with relevant industry certifications. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program, which focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.