TESDA partners with CybersCool for cybersecurity training

March 12, 2024

To reinforce workers’ cybersecurity skills, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has partnered with CybersCool Defcon, Inc., an internationally recognized cybersecurity and information technology training organization.

Last March 6, TESDA Director General, Secretary Suharto T. Mangudadatu, and CybersCool Defcon, Inc. Chairperson, former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) at the TESDA Auditorium in Taguig City.

In his message, Secretary Mangudadatu expressed his gratitude to former CJ Puno for the partnership and shared that the collaboration is in line with the agency’s National Technical Education and Skills Development Plan (NTESDP) 2023-2028.

“Through this collaboration, we can ensure a secure and reliable cyberspace for every Filipino. [With our partnership with CybersCool], TESDA can now provide training to confront emerging risks, threats, and attacks on [cyberspace] and cyber terrorism in the country,” Secretary Mangudadatu said.

Under the agreement, TESDA and CybersCool Defcon, Inc. will provide skills training, and assessment and certification on cybersecurity, and other IT-related training to qualified beneficiaries.

Filipinos aged 18 and above or graduates of high school are the target beneficiaries of this partnership, especially the country’s unemployed or underemployed in the private sector. Other beneficiaries from the public sector will also be accepted in accordance with TESDA’s agreement with concerned government agencies or instrumentalities.

Further, both organizations shall collaborate in the development, enhancement, and validation of TESDA’s competency standards (CS), Training Regulations (TR), competency assessment tools (CATs), and competency-based curriculums (CBC), among others.

Likewise, CybersCool Defcon, Inc. will help TESDA strengthen its internal IT infrastructure through the donation of facilities, equipment, supplies, applications, and/or cybersecurity software.

For his part, former CJ Puno said that the partnership will help prepare the country's labor force to address the challenges brought by these cyberattacks.

“These training courses support the policy directives on cybersecurity given by our President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. as embodied in the National Cybersecurity Plan of 2023-2028 which calls on the entire public and private sectors to give utmost priority in addressing and responding to the threats involving the recent waves of cyberattacks and cybercrimes in the country,” he said.

Also present during the MOA signing were TESDA Deputy Directors General Rosanna A. Urdaneta, Aniceto D. Bertiz III, and Vidal D. Villanueva III, and CybersCool Defcon, Inc. President Edison Abella and Co-Founder Tatoo Amsili.

The TESDA-CybersCool Defcon, Inc. partnership signifies a pivotal moment in the realm of cybersecurity education in the Philippines and is poised to empower individuals and organizations to tackle the growing challenges in cybersecurity effectively.

The CybersCool Defcon, Inc. is a globally accredited company that is committed to retool and upskill workers in both government and private sectors, even those with limited or no IT backgrounds through cybersecurity training programs.