The Global ACE Scheme defines the holistic competencies expected of skilled personnel in the cybersecurity area. It describes the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to perform in a particular occupation with emphasis on enhancing related skillsets. The Scheme is developed in tandem with ISO/IEC17024, ISO/IEC27001 and ISO/IEC9000 standards.

Global ACE Scheme CoE is a primary deliverable under the Global ACE Scheme project. It establishes a single converging platform for cybersecurity capacity building and lifelong learning within the region that allows individuals to develop capabilities at their own pace and permit continual enhancement through the lifelong learning pathways. The Global ACE Scheme CoE empowers professionals to share knowledge, expertise and skillsets, instil the ability to continually identify up-to-date cyber threats and mitigation methods. The Global ACE Scheme CoE infuses cybersecurity capabilities from members of participating countries, engaging them and stimulate shareable cognitive actions. Objectives are to support the continuous development of individuals in mitigating cyber-related threats, build effective cyber defenders within their social-economic sphere and establish inclusive and equitable quality programs for all.

In Malaysia, the Scheme is utilised to certify cybersecurity professionals at the national level. Personnel certified by the Scheme is recognised by MBOT through the Malaysia ACT 768 as a Professional Technologist or Certified Technician that carries the prefix of Ts. or Tc. before their name. The Department of Skills Malaysia through the Malaysia Act 652 has incorporated the Scheme's syllabuses for the NOSS development. About 60% of public universities have started aligning cybersecurity academic modules with the Scheme to incorporate professional credentials. Internationally, 13 countries have shown interest in the project. They are Azerbaijan, Oman, Indonesia, Iran, Brunei, Nigeria, Egypt, UAE, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sudan and Turkmenistan.

https://www.cybereducationscheme.org

• Azerbaijan
• Bangladesh
• Brunei Darussalam
• Egypt
• Indonesia
• Iran (Islamic Republic of)
• Kazakhstan
• Malaysia
• Nigeria
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates

• Youth
• Older persons
• Women
• Indigenous and nomadic peoples
• People with disabilities
• The unemployed
• The poor
• Migrants
• Remote and rural communities

This project is initiated under the support from the OIC-CERT, it is by-design equipped with the replicability feature enabling many countries to participate, in particular, the OIC-CERT member countries. This feature is extended to any countries that have interests to ascertaining a structured cybersecurity education methodology and have the intention to enhance related skillsets harmonious with local requirements while not scarifying the quality and global standards conformation.

By replicating the setup of Global ACE Scheme to other countries, the Scheme will be regionalised as the Country Chapter that shares similar structure, methodology and philosophy. The Scheme management will be decentralised, local developers will be nurtured, practitioners will be identified and developed. At the same time, the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed in cybersecurity occupation shall be enhanced congruent with local needs. Alongside with the competencies derived from other country chapters, it will collectively address the cybersecurity needs that appeal to all across country boundaries. The overall guidance shall align with the Malaysia Chapter as a reference. Periodic audit exercises will be conducted to ensure alignment and quality of service. The Global ACE Scheme CoE will be comprehended through the establishment of country chapters. This will establish a common platform for capacity sharing and lifelong learning, realise the mutual recognition arrangement of cybersecurity professionals, enhance workforce mobility among country chapters and enable cybersecurity programmes for cross-border deployment.

The Global ACE Scheme CoE is an approach to ascertain indigenous capabilities towards international standards and to ensure long-term sustainability through the Scheme's products and services commercial implementation. Currently, a total of 13 countries as mentioned in Section 22 above have shown interest as Country Chapters.

Cybersecurity is becoming more and more important to ensure economic and societal well-being. The very nature of cybersecurity makes this project most likely to continue well into the future. Thus the need to continuously train and certify new and existing cybersecurity professionals will remain in the foreseeable future. The field of cybersecurity cuts across all facets of today’s world and will be more crucial as the world embraces the fourth industrial revolution.

By regionalising the Scheme as Country Chapters that share a similar structure, methodology and philosophy with other participating countries, it will empower the local authorities to continually developed, enhanced and improved the Scheme operations. Local communities at-large will be able to access quality and standardise cybersecurity education programs while local developers will be able to consistently improve their technical capabilities and enhance the contents towards international standards' aspirations. For the local business partners, the Scheme's products and services shall be able to optimise for commercial purposes, enabling financial sustainabilities in the long run.

The Global ACE Scheme CoE empowers country chapters to articulate the horizontal alignment of the Scheme’s recognition and operation, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality cybersecurity education while improving the cybersecurity workforce mobility. This project fosters closer cooperation of regional and international entities to enhance the cybersecurity capacity-building activities. The Global ACE Scheme CoE realises a common platform to share the latest knowledge, promote the exchange of cybersecurity best practices, contribute expert know-how and made cybersecurity education affordable to all. Experts will be able to interact and collaborate more effectively in improving contents and curriculum development while enabling quality training in local languages. This project also offers an avenue for self-learning and self-development for the community. In the process, cybersecurity education programs will be made affordable to all level of societies. Additionally, this project will encourage authorities and local partnered institutions to work together more closely while ensuring cybersecurity education is holistically integrated, instructors are mutually assessable and lifelong learning activities are jointly established.