OUR PROJECT
Project Number: 2021-2-FI01-KA210-ADU-000050514
Project Title: Development of a Methodological Framework of Cybersecurity Internship Program for SMEs Funded under Erasmus Plus KA210-ADU – Small-scale partnerships in Adult Education and supported by Finnish National Agency for Education
THE PROJECT’S SUMMARY
Our project’s concrete objectives to achieve were;
-creating a methodological framework to help designing a cybersecurity internship program for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by developing all the necessary curricular components of what an internship program must have (ex. objectives, job description, orientation process, performance appraisal, timeline, learning interventions, activities, evaluation rubrics and so on). To do so, we have conducted;
-training the targets about how to research the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge and create the first draft of the methodological framework of cybersecurity internship program.
-testing the methodological framework of cybersecurity internship program in an actual cybersecurity SME organization, as a work-based implementation to analyze its usability, practicability, effectiveness and testing other components. To do so, we were hosted by Barikat Cybersecurity Academy in Ankara, Turkey where 5 days intensive testing and modification of our cybersecurity internship program took place.
-creating the final methodological framework of cybersecurity internship program as a professional tool as prepared by subject experts, tested, modified and published in proper formats.
ACTIVITIES WE HAVE CONDUCTED
KICK-OFF MEETING (activity 1)
This meeting was held in Helsinki in April 2022 as a 2 days activity with the purpose of planning the whole project’s roadmap, learning project objectives, training the partners and conducting other project related plans.
TRAINING ACTIVITY (activity 2)
Between 28th of November-1st of December (4 days), 2022.
Location: Ankara, Turkey
This training was part of Activity 2 where the purpose was training the project partners’ participants about how they can create cybersecurity internship programs’ components (objectives, resources, evaluations etc.) In that, cybersecurity experts trained the participants, conducted interactive learning interventions, analyzed examples of internships in IT and cybersecurity field and prepared a draft of internship framework to build upon for this project.
In addition, the participants discussed about their experiences in IT sectors, current employability issues in IT, what a proper internship program must have, exchange ideas, experiences, contacts and networks.
INTENSIVE 5 DAYS EVENT (activity 3)
This activity took place between 4-8 September,2023, in Ankara, Turkey, as a part of the activity 3, concerning testing cybersecurity internship program in an actual cybersecurity SME, training participants, planning the dissemination interventions and multiplier events. In that, a big cybersecurity company called Barikat Cybersecurity Academy (https://barikatakademi.com.tr/) which employs around 350 staff, hosted this 5 days intensive event. In that, we have implemented our newly developed methodological framework of cybersecurity internship program in an actual cybersecurity company with many cybersecurity experts, as a practical implementation with all the necessary components.
This activity has also helped our project to exchange knowledge among the participants, experiencing how cybersecurity internships are being held in SMEs, what are the real needs, internship components, preferences of EU SMEs, perspectives of the interns and internship providers, expectations and more.
After this 5 days event, we were able to modify our newly developed methodological framework of cybersecurity internship program and create its best version possible.
MULTIPLIER EVENTS
We have employed various dissemination interventions as multiplier events to reach a wide range of people and organisations possible where we have visited various cybersecurity companies and IT engineers to disseminate this project’s results along with sending our project’s output to wide range of organisations and people in the EU.