Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) alumnus Jean Pierre “Petero” Niyodusenga (MSIT ’14) is on a mission to help train African youth to work in cybersecurity to ensure Rwanda meets its goal of becoming a secure, knowledge-based economy. Large scale training aligns with Rwanda’s National Cyber Security Strategy and Vision 2050. The plan notes that cyberattacks will continue to grow, and currently there are fewer than 300,000 cybersecurity professionals to combat these cyberthreats.
Training and mentoring youth to fill the growing need for workforce in cybersecurity and related fields is a personal passion for Niyodusenga, a cybersecurity expert, entrepreneur, and educator, who considers himself a bridge between academia and industry.
“In Rwanda we are looking forward to becoming a knowledge-based economy by the year 2030. This can only happen if we build the capacity now to secure a digital infrastructure. Who is going to actually provide that security? It’s the young people,” Niyodusenga said. “We have to start educating and training young people now, not just in Rwanda, or Africa, but across the world.”
Source: Petero Niyodusenga
Niyodusenga recently launched his newest endeavor, the International Cybersecurity Community for Africa, a pan-African nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Africa’s cyber resilience.
