As malicious actors enhance their attack tactics, the cybersecurity skills gap is widening, impacting organizations worldwide. According to the Fortinet 2023 Global Skills Gap Report, 68% of security leaders say their organizations face risks they can attribute to the cybersecurity skills shortage. At the same time, more than half of respondents say they struggle to recruit qualified talent to fill these open roles. The Fortinet Training Institute is working to address the talent shortage by making training more accessible to not just security professionals, but also students, veterans, and other populations, with the goal of bringing more qualified talent into the cybersecurity workforce.

As part of the Fortinet Training Institute, the Academic Partner Program is focused on equipping the workforce of the future, partnering with academic institutions to deliver Fortinet's award-winning training and certifications to students. The Academic Partner Program collaborates with higher education institutions worldwide to help learners become part of an elite group of skilled cybersecurity professionals.

Authorized Academic Partners can integrate Fortinet NSE certifications directly into their existing courses or facilitate the content as standalone continuing education. To supplement the course content, Academic Partners can use Fortinet network security technologies to give students a hands-on lab experience. This effort is one way in which Fortinet is working to achieve its goal of training 1 million individuals in cybersecurity by 2026.

This year, Fortinet honored the institutions and individuals making a significant impact in helping learners gain the skills and knowledge needed to successfully join the cybersecurity workforce.

Recognizing the 2023 Academic Partner Award Winners

Below are the 2023 award recipients across three categories, with winners from North America; Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific (APAC).

Marketing Innovation Award Winners

These Academic Partner Program members have introduced innovative marketing campaigns at their respective institutions that drive Fortinet programs, solutions, and services and expose more learners to Fortinet training and certification opportunities.

• North America:University of Ottawa, Canada

The University of Ottawa joined the Fortinet Academic Partner Program in 2021. In that time, the university has helped hundreds of students achieve their respective Network Security Expert (NSE) level 4 certifications. The institution has also worked with Fortinet on various other initiatives, such as hosting a lab environment using Fortinet products and services so that students can gain hands-on experience with best-in-class security technologies.

• EMEA:Ensam Casablanca Academy, Morocco

Ensam Casablanca Academy recently launched a new skills certification platform. This initiative allows students to register for free training courses that can help them earn certifications related to rapidly growing occupations and fields such as telecommunications, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. The institution makes Fortinet certifications available through the ECA Ensam Casablanca Academy.

Academic Educators of the Year

The following winners have consistently offered students innovative, hands-on opportunities to gain the necessary skills to pursue a cybersecurity career.

• North America:Jeff Price and Stephen Jay, Red River College, Canada

Red River College, Manitoba's largest institute of applied learning and research, has been a Fortinet Academic Partner Program member since 2017. The institution was one of the first to offer Fortinet's hosted lab environment, giving students hands-on experience with best-in-class security technologies. Per Jeff and Stephen's requests, the school also got the FortiSIEM (security information and event management) base appliance approved for use by the college's academic partner schools.

• EMEA:Per Rosenlind, Plushogskolan, Sweden

Per, who has held various security-focused roles in private-sector enterprises over the past decade, ranging from solutions architect to senior network security engineer, is an integral part of the Fortinet Academic Partner Program. Per is NSE certified across levels four through seven and is currently studying for NSE 8. He participated in more than 10 labs with students in 2022 alone.

Outstanding Students from the Academic Partner Program

These students are recognized for their outstanding efforts related to cybersecurity learning opportunities, ranging from achieving NSE certifications to pursuing additional education to advance their cybersecurity acumen.

• APAC: Nivesh Pai, KLE Technological University, India
• North America:Asmaa Hailane, University of Ottawa, Canada
• North America:Natalia Maximo, University of Ottawa, Canada
• EMEA:Niklas Sjoberg, Plushogskolan, Sweden
• EMEA:Hind Lakhal, Ensam Casablanca Academy, Morocco
• EMEA:Jo?l Rabah, Premium School Ecole 2600, France 

Training the Cyber Workforce of the Future

Our Authorized Academic Partners work tirelessly to bring cybersecurity education to higher education learners around the world, a crucial effort in helping to shrink the cybersecurity talent shortage. We're thrilled to recognize our outstanding partners for their work in this area and look forward to our continued partnership as we continue to train the workforce of the future.

Learn more about the Fortinet free cybersecurity training initiative and Fortinet's Training Institute, including the NSE Certification program, Academic Partner program, and Education Outreach program which includes a focus on Veterans.