Dr. Dustin E. Fraser of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and native of Guyana, presented a scholarly study of how cybersecurity can be a driver for economic growth in developing nations.
Dr. Dustin Fraser, Adjunct Professor at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, was conferred a Doctor of Business Analytics and Decision Sciences on October 1, 2021, by Capitol Technology University in Laurel, Maryland. Dr. Fraser, a native of Guyana, presented a scholarly study of how cybersecurity can be a driver of economic growth in developing nations.
The 258 page case study surveyed 20 cybersecurity and IT professionals across 21 economic sectors in Guyana. The purpose was to identify the existing cybersecurity knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) gap in the workforce, explain the source of the gap, and propose appropriate remediation strategies. The Caribbean was recently identified by the OAS as among the regions with the largest number of new internet users, and as a result, cyber-crime is a common and crippling problem. This study provides a lens through which regional countries can improve cybersecurity skills to protect critical infrastructure.
Key findings include the need to improve support for cybersecurity education, establish coordination and collaboration between the public and private sector, improve information sharing structures, and create an inventory of critical infrastructure assets at a national level.
Dr. Fraser proposed a new framework that addresses these concerns by examining: National Cybersecurity Strategy, Current State of Cyber Workforce (Skillset), Current Cybersecurity Challenges, and Current Impact of Cybercrime on Economic Sectors.
Born in Georgetown, Guyana, Dr. Fraser knows firsthand the challenges of building a better economy in a land with vulnerable critical infrastructure, few educational and training resources, and creating employment opportunities.
“As a youth in Guyana, I was fortunate to obtain a government scholarship to study engineering overseas. This opportunity changed my life and career options. I hope to apply the findings in this study to the betterment of my country, and those with similar challenges in CARICOM,” he said.
Dr. Fraser hopes to implement his framework in multiple developing countries. He also hopes to find opportunities to pursue the development of easy-to-access, cost-free, and entry-to-advanced-level cybersecurity educational materials to improve awareness and cyber literacy. His goal is to provide cybersecurity skills development opportunities for youths throughout Africa, Caribbean, and Latin America, using popular tools such as YouTube. “I enjoy teaching in the Immigrant Retraining Program at Cooper Union, but I have enough energy and time to also pursue my dream of helping developing countries develop a workforce to protect their critical infrastructure,” said Dr. Fraser. “This study was just the first step in what I hope will be a career of implementing simple strategies to protect citizens and governments alike,” he concluded.
Dr. Fraser received his master’s degree in Cyber and Information Security from Capitol Technology University and his bachelor’s degree in Informatics Engineering from the Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
Cybersecurity may be one factor that assists the economic growth of developing nations but there are other factors of equal, if not greater, benefit. Creative skills being the forerunner.
How can we as a nation capitalize on this bit of information. This guy did not get a PHd in this just for shi.. and giggles and to make news. Policy makers and the six form college should get his book and use to develop the talent pool capitalize on the information. Information without action is pointless and useless.
LC,
Cassani Laville and his goverment just spent 17+ Million on “digital skills & technology” i’m sure they reached out to Dr. Fraser for consulting .
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With a massive investment like that, one can be CERTAIN that Dominica’s economic growth will be booming with cyber security jobs .. Talk about Return on Investment