NICE Community Coordinating Council

Meeting Minutes

April 26, 2023 | 3:30-5:00 p.m. ET

I. Introduction and Ground Rules – Susana Barraza, NICE Program Manager

• The NICE Community Coordinating Council was established to provide a mechanism in 

which public and private sector participants can develop concepts, design strategies,

and pursue actions that advance cybersecurity education, training, and workforce 

development. 

• Members are encouraged to participate in the meeting via the platform chat space and 

the Q&A space.

• Reminder: The meeting is not intended for marketing or other commercial purposes.

II. Opening Remarks

a. Interim Academic Co-Chair – Paul Bingham, Vice President and Dean, College of 

Information Technology, Governors University 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the hot topic at RSA this year, such as large language 

models and the way our adversaries are weaponizing them. Conversely, how 

can AI tools help us protect and defend against attacks? The opportunity to 

conduct full-scale simulations using AI is now available within the prevention 

space. AI models can be trained to run simulations to help with prevention. 

• Paulo Alto Networks first coined the phrase, ‘XDR’ for Extended Detection and 

Response back in 2018. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is becoming 

XDR. Incorporating AI into all into XDR is allowing the cybersecurity professional 

to have a holistic view of what is happening at the end point and throughout the 

network. 

• Hearing a lot about authentication methods. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) 

methods are still important but the attacks against MFA are increasing. 

Authentication continues to be a challenge to stay ahead of the techniques and 

tactics that people are using to try and foil those. 

b. Government Co-Chair – Rodney Petersen, Director of NICE 

• Overall, both the focus of the NICE Framework and of the NICE Program is on 

the security of all things in cyber space. Rodney is reminded while working at 

the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) that the labs about AI, 

are usually about the security of AI. The work on the Internet of Things (IoT) is 

about the security of IoT. The focus of NICE and the NICE Framework is about 

the security of those processes and the privacy as well. 

III. Standing Items

a. Report Roundup – Learning from Good Ideas 

Future Directions: 2022 Summit Report

Presented by Corrinne Sande, NCyTE Center, Whatcom Community College

URL: https://www.ncyte.net/home/showpublisheddocument?id=271 
• Corinne presented about the action planned developed out of the ‘The Role of 

Community Colleges in Cybersecurity Education: Future Directions Summit’ back in 

2022. Several groups at the summit advised on the strategy. Five strategies were 

developed. Corinne shared some strategy highlights.

• Strategy 1: Diversify the Workforce. There were several suggestions around this 

strategy and Corinne shared two of the most practical. First, continue the

Scholarship for Service (SFS) program for community colleges but change the 

program so that students could make their obligation by serving at municipalities, 

state and local or tribal government. The second, continue the Junior Research 

Officer Training Corp (JROTC) Program that Whatcom has been hosting but with the 

change for universities to grant credit to JROTC students that complete a course of 

study. It primes them to go into the field when they complete high school.

• Strategy 2: Cybersecurity Education provided to K12. There were several points 

highlighted. The most important was to create a cyber-endorsement for high school

educators. The idea is to have a College of Education at a University add an 

endorsement to the education program that is approved by the superintendent of 

public instruction. When high school teachers graduate out of their program, they 

are already endorsed in cyber. Currently working on this with Eastern Washington 

University but it can be expanded nationwide. 

• Strategy 3: Increase Capacity of Cybersecurity Education at Community Colleges. 

Faculty shortage is an issue across the board. One suggestion is look at who qualifies 

as faculty. There are qualified people who have 20 years’ experience in cyber but 

may not have a PHD.

• Strategy 4: Expand Business and Industry Engagement and College Program 

Responsiveness. Improving the community college brand was a noteworthy point. 

There is a lack of understanding about community colleges graduates. A major part 

of community college is workforce. There are workforce programs designed to 

graduate students after two years that can go to work. This is where most of the 

cyber programs are found. The students all have applied skills. Educate the public on 

who is graduating from the community colleges that have the skills. Make

employers aware of this employee pool. Additionally, improve diversity in hiring and 

reconfigure job descriptions to expand the pool of applicants. It is about matching 

the qualifications to actual needs. Corinne has been advocating for standardizing 

the data about Community College Cyber programs and aligning it. The NICE 

Workforce Framework has all these work roles and there is need for people in 

certain work roles. No one really knows who is graduating that could fill that need. A

standardization of the data is necessary. Then, one can see there is a shortage of x 

amount of people for job z. Increase the number of programs that can meet that 

work role. This will require a better picture of the data.

• Strategy 5: Encourage Government Coordination, Involvement and Support. More

collaboration between government agencies was recommended. Also 

recommended, create a National Initiative with Authority to Direct Cybersecurity 

Initiatives Across Agencies. 

• Q&A: 

Q: Who determines the qualifications requirements for a community college faculty 

member?

A: It is a combination of what the overall requirements are at the college, which 
have changed over the years. It used to be a combination of work and education or 

workforce programs. There has been a trend toward valuing education over work 

experience. It’s determined by the college and in alignment with whatever the 

accreditation standard says.

b. Strategy Stories – New Developments that align to NICE Strategic Plan 

Retaining Women through Register Apprenticeships and Women in Apprenticeship and 

Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Grants 

Presented by Kimberly Hauge, US Department of Labor

URL: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/wb/wb20230414

https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-credits-and-tuition-support/openfunding-opportunities 

• The Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau is issuing its Women in Apprenticeship 

and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Grants. This funding opportunity will help 

address significant underrepresentation of women, in registered apprenticeships, in 

skilled trade, manufacturing and healthcare. Women make up only 14 percent of 

registered apprentices while they account for nearly half of the labor force. 

• DOL will issue five million to fund six to fourteen projects ranging from $350,000 to 

$750,000 with a twenty-four-month period of performance. To be eligible for funds, 

an applicant must be a community-based organization. The closing date for the 

applications is May 29, 2023. 

• The program aims to provide technical assistance and pointers, which may include 

public or private sectors, labor unions and tribal territories in the United States to 

encourage employment of women in both principle and non-traditional occupations

by developing programs and providing orientations and setting up support groups.

• The second request for proposals is one on expanding registered apprenticeships 

through industry intermediary contracts. It is advertised on Apprenticeship.gov. It is 

labeled ‘Tier 2: Registered Apprenticeship Acceleration in Established Industries 

RFP’. It specifically targets expansion of registered apprenticeships in cybersecurity 

along with hospitality and trucking. This RFP seeks to work with industry 

intermediaries to work within established industries with an existing registered 

apprenticeship (RA) presence and the demand/capacity to accelerate and scale 

further growth and expansion to quality RA for all workers. The duration of 

performance is twelve months with three twelve-month options. Applications are 

due May 18, 2023. Link: https://www.apprenticeship.gov/investments-tax-creditsand-tuition-support/open-funding-opportunities 

c. Framework Feature – Applications and Uses of Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity 

MasterCard and the NICE Framework

Presented by Katie Boudreau and Bonnie Leff, MasterCard 

• MasterCard has begun to include the NICE Framework in various ways within their

cybersecurity area. MasterCard had an engagement with CyberVista to help build 

their workforce mapping of fifteen of their roles within corporate security. They 

have identified framework competencies that align with those fifteen roles. 
• They have utilized that information along with additional feedback from their hiring 

managers, to begin including NICE competency proficiencies and related work roles

into their job descriptions and additional job description enhancements.

• MasterCard is looking for more ideas and assistance moving forward. How can they 

include the NICE Framework and NICE work roles in other ways into what they do at 

MasterCard? Hope to find a more granular way to find the KSAs that line up to those 

competencies. 

• Q&A:

Q: Have you incorporated this at all levels of roles MasterCard is posting for at this 

point? 

A: Yes, for the last few months they have been including the piece about the NICE 

Framework references into all their corporate security roles that have been posted. 

Everything from entry-level to VICE President.

Q: How do you think this has improved your alignment of candidates with the actual 

work roles?

A: They don’t have any metrics on that yet.

Q: Do you have any measurements you intend to put into place to see whether 

using this is working?

A: Yes, they do have plans to include some training enhancements and some other 

evaluations into the NICE Framework and referrals.

d. Research Review- Driving Research on Effective Practices 

The State of Inclusion Women in Cybersecurity 

Presented by Paolo Gaudiano, Aleria Tech

URL: https://www.wicys.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Executive-Summary-TheState-of-Inclusion-of-Women-in-Cybersecurity.pdf 

• A joint project was created between Aleria PBC and Women in Cybersecurity 

(WiCyS) to understand why the representation of women in cybersecurity is not 

where it should be. 

• Launched a pioneering study to gain insight into the causes of disparities in 

cybersecurity that keep women from being recruited, retained, and advanced. 

• Why is this pioneering and what is unique about it? When most people talk about 

DEI, the focus is on the ‘D’. Aleria understands the need to look at all the factors 

that makes a person want to go to a job and stay in it. They have developed a 

unique way of measuring inclusion called an inclusion assessment. An inclusion

assessment is a workshop where they educate people on a unique way of thinking 

about inclusion and how it links with diversity and the performance of the 

organization. 

• Aleria has gone through Phase 1 with WiCyS. 

o They conducted an inclusion assessment of individual women (mostly WiCyS 

members) to establish the value of the approach and identify initial insights. 

o They collected anonymous data and asked people to share experiences 

about when they felt uncomfortable in the workplace. 

o They also asked two questions about their experiences. The first, what 

category of experience was it (such as work life balance, respect, career 

advancement, etc.). They also asked about the source. In phase one they 

collected data from over 300 women who were individual members.

• They have just started phase 2. 
o They are conducting additional inclusion assessments for WiCyS strategic 

partner organizations, to provide data and insights for each organization 

and create a robust industry-wide benchmark. 

• The experiences that were shared were ranked by categories. Respect was the most 

prevalent category. Career and Growth was ranked second. 

• Most workplace experiences result from interactions with leadership, direct 

managers, and peers. People, not policies are the most common sources of 

experiences of exclusion. 

• Women working for WiCyS partner organizations report much lower levels of 

exclusion. Additional analysis suggests that WiCyS programming targets the most 

impactful “Categories of Inclusion.” 

• Paolo Gaudiano: paolo@aleria.tech 

IV. Working Group Updates 

a. Promote Career Discovery 

Co-chairs: Jimmy Baker, Arrow Electronics

• A presentation was provided by Sara Shrieve from Cisco on Corporate Social 

Responsibility.

• Jimmy presented on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report on 

cyber-attacks. 

• Received an update from the NICE Framework Team. 

• Received an Ambassador Program Update. 

• Provided working members a link to a document to review the group’s goals and 

objectives. 

• Site: Promote Career Discovery Working Group | NIST

• Next meeting: May 17, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. ET

b. Transform Learning Process 

Co-chair: Richard Spires, Richard A. Spires Consulting 

• Currently have two active projects and both will be showcased at the upcoming 

NICE Conference. 

• Next meeting, the group will join the K12 COI. One topic of discussion will be around 

the strategic plan objective 2.6, focusing on championing the development of 

recognition of teachers, faculty, and instructors as part of the in-demand workforce. 

• Searching to replace Richard Spires as co-chair. If interested, please reach out 

through the NICE team.

• Site: Transform Learning Process Working Group | NIST

• Next meeting: May 10, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. ET.

c. Modernize Talent Management 

Susana Barraza, NICE

• Guest speaker, Karen Wetzel, spoke about the NICE Framework. She shared about 

competency areas and how they differ and can be used with the work roles. She 

also previewed an upcoming release expected this year.

• An update was provided by the ‘Guidance on Writing Effective Job Descriptions’ 

project team. The team is currently working on a workshop with the goal to bring 
hiring and talent acquisition managers together to hear about what works and what 

makes sense from their perspective. Be on the lookout for additional information. 

• Site: Modernize Talent Management Working Group | NIST

• Next meeting: May 18, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. ET

V. Community of Interest Updates 

a. Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity

Co-chair: Katie Adams, Safal Partners

• Recently held a webinar with Robert Half International, which has a National 

Apprenticeship Program for several tech occupations. Great opportunity for 

attendees to learn more about the intermediary model of apprenticeship. 

• Next month the group will hear from Drexel University, which recently received 

apprenticeship program approval from the Pennsylvania State Apprenticeship 

Agency. 

• The group completed their COI survey. The top area of project work interest is 

in developing and deploying a survey to determine industries, both current and 

future, projected cyber occupational needs for apprenticeship. The COI would 

also be interested in identifying new occupations for consideration for DOL 

approval. There is also significant interest in drafting a white paper on methods

of implementing apprenticeship at various talent levels. 

• Site: Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity Community of Interest | NIST

• Next meeting: May 12, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. ET

b. Cybersecurity Skills Competitions

Co-chair: Amelia Phillips, University of the Cumberlands 

• The group had two presentations. One, the Atlantic Council, presented on their

Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge. It is an annual cyber policy and strategy 

competition where students from across the globe compete in developing policy 

recommendations tackling a fictional cyber catastrophe. The second

presentation was on the ICL Collegiate Cup and the International’s Cyber League

America’s Cup. 

• An update was provided about the website the group has been creating to track 

all competitions. It will be a dynamic database. 

• Site: Cybersecurity Skills Competitions Community of Interest | NIST

• Next meeting: May 18, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. ET

c. K12 Cybersecurity Education 

Co-chair: Trevethan, Palo Alto Networks

• Heard an announcement about the Mathematics and Statistics Awareness 

month. 

• An expert in cybersecurity education and artificial intelligence (AI) presented on 

the potential benefits of using Chat GPT in cybersecurity education as well as 

the challenges and risks associated with this technology.

• Project updates were provided for the K12 Conference, the Ambassadors 

Program, and the Cybersecurity Awareness Month. 

• Next meeting will be in collaboration with the Transform Learning Process 

Working Group.
• Site: K12 Cybersecurity Education Community of Interest | NIST

• Next meeting: May 10, 2023, at 3:30 p.m. ET

d. NICE Framework Users 

Karen Wetzel, Manager of the NICE Framework

• Proposed changes to the NICE Framework were released this week for comment 

involving the Work Role categories and Work Roles. 

• There is an introduction and summary. The team wants to be very clear and 

detailed on the reason why they are being proposed and the impact they might 

have. There is a full description of the changes. Additionally, the changes being 

made are listed in a spreadsheet that people can review. The comment period 

closes on June 23, 2023.

• The proposed changes address earlier community feedback (both from 

comment periods as well as from workshops, working groups, community calls, 

and other stakeholder conversations). 

• Some changes include adjusting the Work Role titles to resemble actual Work 

Roles instead of appearing like job titles. For example, instead of the role being 

defined as Enterprise Architect, it was updated to Enterprise 

Architecture. Want to be clear a work role is not the same as a job title. 

• Ensure that there is alignment with other frameworks. One example, the 

Department of Defense Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (CWF), where they 

have Intelligence and Cyber Space Effects as their categories would have aligned 

to the NICE Frameworks’ Analyze and Collect and Operate categories. Changing 

the titles of those categories and making sure the work roles are in the same 

order as the CWF. Also looking at how these ties in alignment with other areas. 

Ensuring that the language is not too government speak. Using language that 

will be well understood in all areas. 

• Work Role Category Names: The changes are to better represent the work being 

conducted within those categories and make them more descriptive. Securely 

Provision becomes Design and Development. Operate and Maintain becomes 

Implementation and Operation. The categories now designate a body of work 

rather than a verb itself. Protection and Defense become Protect and Defend. 

Oversee and Govern become Oversight and Governance. Oversight and 

Governance is moving to the top of the category list. The team is proposing to 

delete the ‘Investigate’ category and move the work roles elsewhere.

• Work Role Name Changes: The category description changes are to primarily 

improve consistency and clarity. Replacing “IT” and “information technology” 

with just “technology” to reflect the broader environment for cybersecurity 

work. Replacing the word “or” with “and” in a category description. Also 

adjusting work role names to better reflect standard language.

• Work Role Deprecations: There is a new work role, which is being called 

‘Systems Developer’. Content from this role is merged into Information Systems 

Security Developer to create the updated Systems Development Work Role. 

Similarly, when looking at the Law Enforcement/Counterintelligence Forensics 

Analysis work role, redundancies with two existing work roles were found. 

Content from this role (7 statements) is merged into Cyber Defense Forensics 

Analysis to create the updated Digital Forensics Work Role. The Cybercrime 
Investigation Work Role (previously “Cyber Crime Investigator”) description is 

updated to reference language from the Law Enforcement/Counterintelligence 

Forensics Analysis Work Role.

• The team wants to hear feedback from the community. Once the comment 

period closes, the team will look at how the feedback can be addressed in the 

proposed changes. 

• Q&A:

Q: Will the Cyber Seek Heat Map be updated to reflect these changes?

A: The team has been in conversations with Cyber Seek. A lot of planning in how 

to do that. Also working on a process documentation of release and versioning 

schedules. There will be a process for this in a consistent manner. Next month 

they will release an updated competencies list for comment. Following, around 

the NICE Conference, the team will release their updated knowledge and skill 

statements. 

VI. Project Progress Reports 

a. NICE Conference and Expo (Seattle, Washington) – June 5-7, 2023

Presented by Susana Barraza, NICE

URL: https://niceconference.org/

• The NICE conference is June 5 - June 7, 2023, at Westin Seattle in Seattle, 

Washington.

• Regular Registration is open and they expect a full sell out. March 20 – May 14, 

2023. https://niceconference.org/hotel-travel/ 

• Encourage registration for the pre-conference workshops. They are expected to sell 

out. The workshops will be held on Monday, June 5, 2023, from 1-5:00pm PT. 

• Book your hotel: The Westin Seattle: Hotel & Travel - NICE | Conference and Expo 

(niceconference.org). 

• A local stakeholder pre-conference event took place on April 3, 2023, in Seattle, 

Washington. A recording is available online. 

• Thanks to the 2023 sponsors and key partners. Sponsorship opportunities are sold 

out. 

• Connect with us:

o Website: www.niceconference.org 

o Email: info@niceconference.org

o Twitter: @nicecybercon

b. NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference (Phoenix, Arizona) – December 4-5, 2023 

Presented by Felicia Rafeliff, iKeepSafe

URL: https://www.k12cybersecurityconference.org/

• The NICE K12 Conference will take place December 4 – December 5, 2023. Preconference workshops will be on Saturday, December 2, 2023. 

• The conference will be at the Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak and government 

rates will be available until November 10, 2023. Registration is now live.

• The first planning committee meeting was last month. It is a long process for

creating the conference theme. This year there is a new promotion for the 

conference, ‘Cybersecurity Careers...It’s What’s Hot!’
• Call for Proposals opens on April 27, 2023, and close on July 14, 2023. They will have 

submissions for pre-conference workshops, breakout sessions, panels, pre-recorded 

sessions, and virtual poster sessions. Get on the mailing list!

• The theme for the presentation is, “Designing K12 learning experiences to build a 

diverse and skilled cybersecurity workforce.”

• The five tracks this year are: 1.) Increasing Cybersecurity Career Awareness 2.) 

Engaging Students Where Disciplines Converge 3.) Stimulating Innovative 

Cybersecurity Educational Approaches 4.) Promoting Cybersecurity Career Pathways 

and 5.) Promoting Cyber Awareness

• Actively recruiting sponsors and exhibitors at many different financial levels. Great 

opportunity to represent your organization at the conference. 

• The 2023 pre-conference workshops will be held at Grand Canyon University. A tour 

will be provided as well as hands-on activities.

• Connect on Twitter:

o @ikeepsafe

o NISTcyber

o #NICEK12

VII. Featured Topic 

NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 

Presented by Cherilyn Pascoe, National Institute of Standards and Technology

URL: https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework 

• The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) provides guidance to organizations to manage 

cyber security risks. It was originally an Executive Order directive and congressional 

mandate to develop a set of best practices to reduce risk to critical infrastructure. 

• The CSF does not indicate ‘how’ to address outcomes, or ‘which’ outcomes are higher 

priority. The cybersecurity framework uses more passive language focused on the outcome 

statements. The NICE Framework uses more active language. 

• The Cybersecurity Framework has become widely used by all sectors around the world and 

helps to translate cybersecurity topics across technical teams and non-technical teams. 

Organizations use the framework to report on their cybersecurity posture to senior 

executives within an organization, as well as discussions outside of an organization with 

suppliers and customers and among various government agencies. 

• The framework was last updated five years ago in 2018 with only a minor update. NIST put 

out a request for information (RFI) last year and asked if the Cybersecurity Framework 

should be updated. They majority of respondents said that while the framework is still 

currently affective to address cybersecurity risks people also want many changes to be 

made common. Thus, NIST decided to move forward with a major update. 

• The goal is to have a final publication of CSF 2.0 in early 2024. The community has been 

engaged throughout the process to ensure they are addressing the specific risks 

organizations are facing. The framework should be effective and easier to adjust. 

• NIST has published many frameworks in the technology and cybersecurity space. The update

gives NIST the opportunity to increase alignment with other resources and frameworks. The 

NICE Framework, the Privacy Framework, the AI Risk Management Framework, and the 

Secure Software Development Framework should all remain separate frameworks. They all

provide valuable guidance to their audiences. However, they want to increase alignment 
through guidance and mappings to make it is easier for organizations to use these 

frameworks together. 

• NIST welcomes input on what they can provide to make the use of the Cybersecurity 

Framework 2.0 with the NICE Framework easier. They have been working closely with the 

NICE Framework team but welcome community engagement as well. 

• NIST published a concept paper outlining their strategic direction for CSF 2.0. All comments 

on the paper have been made public. They want to ensure that the framework is usable by 

all organizations and addresses important topics like governance and supply chain risk 

management as well as cybersecurity assessment and measurement. 

• On April 25, 2023, NIST released a discussion draft of the CSF 2.0 Core. The draft is meant to 

increase transparency but also to get input on the changes to the framework. They want to 

make sure that the feedback is incorporated into the full complete CSF 2.0 draft released for 

public comment this summer.

• The goal is to make sure that the framework remains flexible, outcome focused, sector and 

technology agnostic and can be used by all organizations regardless of sector. NIST wants to 

make sure that update process is increasing alignment with other resources including on 

cybersecurity workforce. The encourage members to participate in the updates, share 

feedback on the drafts and participate in upcoming workshops. 

• Q&A:

Q: Where does an organization start with using the framework if they must prioritize? What 

about the needs of small and medium businesses? 

A: The goal is that the framework is usable to all organizations regardless of size. They have 

increased engagement with small and medium sized businesses to see what level of 

guidance is needed and what are the gaps in terms of guidance to assist with 

implementation of the framework. The CSF website provides a multitude of resources to

help. Some have been developed by NIST, by other federal agencies and various trade 

associations. The resources provide great starting places and additional detail on how to use 

the framework. In terms of where to start, with CSF version 1.1, it is a risk-based framework. 

The use of the framework will vary by organization. There are several sample profiles

developed for specific sectors and for specific risk that can be a useful starting place. NIST 

believes the ‘Identify’ function of the framework is probably the most important function of 

all current five functions. Make sure the organization has a solid foundation of knowing 

what you already have and what your plan is to secure what you have is central to a 

cybersecurity program. 

Q: Is NIST working with the Center for Internet Security (CIS) on their eighteen controls? 

A: CIS participated in the second virtual workshop on CSF 2.0 and are involved in the in the 

update process. 

VIII. Closing Remarks and Next Meeting Reminder 

The next NICE Community Coordinating Council Meeting will be May 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET.