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NICE Community Coordinating Council

Meeting Minutes

Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 | Time: 3:30-5:00 p.m. ET

SharePoint Page: https://nistgov.sharepoint.com/sites/NICEProgram/NICEWG

I. Introduction and Ground Rules

a. Danielle Santos, NICE Manager of Communications and Operations, welcomed 

participants to the inaugural meeting of the NICE Community Coordinating Council. This 

group is set up to provide a mechanism for collaboration among academia, 

government, and industry as well as to discuss strategies and actions to aid in workforce 

development.   

b. Danielle introduced Susana Barraza as the new NICE Program Manager. Susana 

introduced herself and looks forward to supporting this group.

II. Opening Remarks

a. Industry Co-Chair, Jon Brickey, Senior Vice President, Mastercard, welcomed members 

to this month’s call. Jon spoke about competencies and a key study Mastercard is

carrying out. Competencies are not listed in revision 1 of the NICE Framework

publication but are part of the ongoing work. They will be listed in the tables in 

additional supporting documents.

Jon is leading the effort to adopt the NICE Framework at Mastercard. They are writing a 

strategy to adopt the Framework of which competencies will be a big part. They want to 

demonstrate to HR this is not a huge lift and can be adopted in stages. They plan to use 

the Framework to support recruiting, development, and retention by describing types of 

tasks, team requirements, to update position descriptions, and identify appropriate 

hiring methods. Jon would love to talk to anyone who’s overcome HR obstacles. 

For employee development, they are looking to identify training platforms and 

providers that align to the Framework. They want to coordinate with providers and 

make sure everyone is doing the same work.

They have a process they go through every year, part of which is to identify specific 

developmental areas. Competencies can help with that. The goal is to demonstrate the 

benefits of adopting the Framework and spread the program throughout Mastercard. 

Jon was an advocate prior to joining this council.

Mastercard is part of a Cybersecurity Talent Initiative designed for students. The 

initiative hopes to jump start careers and offers opportunities for student loan 

assistance. They’ve received over 400 applications and plan on growing as the sponsor 

list increases. The list of candidates is very diverse. They will publicize results over the 

year and are always looking for more partners. 
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b. Academic Co-Chair, Dr. Marni Baker-Stein, Chief Academic Officer and Provost, Western 

Governors University (WGU), introduced herself as the new Academic Co-Chair. WGU is

a competency based online program. They have over 130,000 students and over 

200,000 graduate students enrolled. WGU offers competency-based education,

meaning they start with skills and descriptions that they understand are in high demand. 

They reference third party labor market providers, HR, talent leaders, and competencies 

of professional standards and frameworks that are put forth. They have a library of skills 

that cluster into competencies that provide value and meaning and discern how to stack 

into credentials and degrees. 

They offer three cyber degrees. Each program is essentially a family of skills that stacks 

into competencies that turn into degrees. They envision a future where students move 

through the coursework, they can share their skills and drive economic mobility even 

before they get their first credential. 

WGU represents NICE in several groups. They are happy to talk about their approach. 

They are spearheading the Open Skills Network to be used to match WGU’s 

competency-based curriculum with a list of workforce-relevant skills.

c. Government Co-Chair, Rodney Petersen, Director of NICE, welcomed members to the 

meeting. Rodney thanked Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, who served as the Academic Co-Chair 

for the past two years. Rodney welcomed Dr. Marni Baker-Stein and believes we can 

learn from her and WGU. 

Rodney emphasized the new NICE Strategic Plan. There are three references to 

competencies in the objectives of the new plan. 

1. Credentials are broad and diverse, so the emphasis is on improvement to 

increase the value of credentials and make sure they are directly related to job 

roles. 

2. Facilitate increased use of performance-based assessments to measure 

competencies and the capability to perform NICE Framework tasks. Assessment 

applies in several ways. From an employer perspective, you assess employees 

throughout the new employee process. 

3. Align qualification requirements according to proficiency levels to reflect the 

competencies and capabilities required to perform tasks in the NICE Framework. 

Connect dots where students, job seekers, employees are the key ingredient that 

providers are trying to reach.
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The NICE Strategic Plan vision speaks to increased demand in jobs and types of skills. 

Our work in k12 and reskilling is part of this effort to grow the workforce. Cybersecurity

workforce sounds limiting and can be confusing. The revised NICE Framework includes

focus on cybersecurity as well as those who utilize cybersecurity skills in the workforce.

The mission has not changed dramatically. However, it notes coordination among the 

public and private sectors and increased importance of building and coordinating an 

integrated ecosystem. The many values reinforce the importance of this NICE 

Community Coordinating Council.

III. Introducing NICE Community Coordinating Council

a. NICE Community Coordinating Council (formerly NICE Working Group)

Future meetings will include the new name. The update is meant to increase the impact 

in our ongoing efforts and alignment to the new NICE Strategic Plan. The new name 

reflects community and coordination among sectors. 

b. NICE Communities of Interest (formerly NICE Subgroups)

The Communities of Interest groups will provide collaboration opportunity for various 

subject matters. These are forums to allow networking.

c. NICE Working Groups are aligned to the new NICE Strategic Plan

The goal is to measure and execute ideas. Working groups will have a five-year duration. 

Some current subgroups will align to new working groups. 

d. Project teams will provide solutions and have shorter durations of 6-12 months.

e. See presentation and find out more here.

IV. Standing Items

a. The following topics will be covered in the future meetings to keep the community 

informed.

Strategy Stories – New Developments that Align to NICE Strategic Plan. This topic will 

highlight efforts happening in industry, academia, and government. The Program Office 

is looking to the community to support the goals and increase awareness of what is 

happening in the community.

Report Roundup – Learning from Good Ideas. This topic is based on recent reports. This 

can include data and/or suggested reports from the government, think tanks, academic

studies, and more, who are trying to draw attention to the challenges and opportunities 

in cybersecurity.

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

This is a new topic designed to expand the use of the NICE Framework.
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Research Review – Highlighting Research Results or Topics for Further Study. This topic 

will include highlights of research results. This topic aligns to the NICE Strategic Plan

Goal 5: Drive Research on Effective Practices for Cybersecurity Workforce 

Development.

b. Members are welcome to submit ideas for monthly agenda topics to the Program Office 

staff: nist.nice@nist.gov

V. Working Group Updates

a. The new NICE Strategic Plan has five goals. As of now, two goals are not being 

structured as Working Groups (expand the use of the Framework and driving research). 

The other three goals have been proposed for Working Groups. The three groups will 

launch in January 2021. Working Groups will begin by reviewing goals and objectives, 

performing environmental scans, and identifying gaps. From there, groups can dive into 

strategies and tactics and develop metrics for progress. The restructuring and work of 

the groups will reflect work aligned with the goals in the NICE Strategic Plan.

1. Promoting Career Discovery. Co-chairs to be identified and meetings to begin in 

January 2021.

2. Transforming Learning Process. Co-chairs to be identified and meetings to begin 

in January 2021. 

3. Modernizing Talent Management. This will be a continuation of the previous

Workforce Management subgroup. Because their previous goal was to guide 

workforce development, it makes sense to transition them. 

b. A few subgroups are discontinued which relates to transforming. Members will receive 

an email detailing the status and how to join other groups.

c. During future NICE Community Coordinating Council meetings, members will hear from 

Working Group Co-chairs. A lot of work will be done in the Communities of Interest (see 

below).

VI. Communities of Interest Updates

a. Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity

• Jennifer Oddo, Co-chair, announced that she recently left IBM and is now at 

Youngstown State University where she works on strategic workforce education. 

• The Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity community has a robust team working on 

the ROI in Apprenticeships project. They want to look to the NICE Framework for 

how to build stakeholder value. They are also looking into how to expand 

apprenticeships during uncertain times. 

• The next meeting for the Apprenticeships in Cybersecurity community is slated 

for December 11, 2020. 

• Find out more here.
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• Rodney said former subgroup projects that continue under the auspices of the 

Communities of Interest are great. If they are working on a project that is crosscutting, they might want to elevate it to one of the new Working Groups.

b. Cybersecurity Skills Competitions 

• Brad Wolfenden, Co-chair, said that the competitions community is closing out 

the year strong. They just completed a guide to competitions, and they are 

about to complete a second guide. The first guide focused largely on surfacelevel information for hosting or sponsoring a competition. The second one is a 

deeper dive for competitors. It is open for comment through December 18 and 

then it will be posted to the website. They will look for direction from the 

program office about how to operate in the new year.

• Find out more here.

c. K12 Cybersecurity Educators 

• Laurin Buchanan, Co-chair, reminded everyone that the NICE K12 Conference 

takes place December 7-9, 2020. 

• The K12 Cybersecurity Educators community is continuing to move forward with 

a couple projects. They have had interesting discussions about what is stopping 

people from considering a career in cybersecurity. Find more here: 

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2020/11/09/cybersecurity-career/

• They have also had discussions about aptitude assessments and competitions for 

K-5 learners. If you are aware of any competitions at this level, please email 

Laurin: Laurin.buchanan@securedecisions.com

• The community has a tentative date of January 13 for the next meeting. Find out 

more here.

VII. Project Progress Reports

a. Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Cybersecurity Community 

Tony Coulson, California State University, San Bernardino, provided the update.

• Tony reported that they just completed the CAE in Cybersecurity Symposium, 

which complemented the annual NICE Conference. They are doing a lot of 

realignment, focusing on applied academics and want to be sure they 

complement the NICE Strategic Plan. They have rolled out several initiatives 

aligned with increasing the cybersecurity workforce pipeline. 

• They focus on three communities of practice: 

o Cyber defense 

o CAE Research 

o Cyber operations
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• At the symposium they announced new personnel at CAE. They now have 335 

colleges and universities working together to help solve the problem of the 

shortage in the cybersecurity workforce. A lot of the back chatter at the 

symposium was about the release of the revised NICE Framework. Email Tony if 

you want to learn more: tcoulson@caecommunity.org

• Find out more here.

b. Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week

Danielle Santos, NICE, provided the update. 

• Danielle said there was great turnout this year for Cybersecurity Career 

Awareness Week, and she thanked everyone who participated. There is a web 

page with archived recordings, including YouTube videos, of some of the events. 

• Next year, the event will be moved to October 18-23 to better align with 

Cybersecurity Awareness Month. They are dropping the word “National” from 

Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week to expand more internationally. 

• See presentation and fine out more here. 

c. NICE Annual Conference 

Randy Pestana, Florida International University, provided the update.

• Next year’s NICE Conference is being planned for in-person in Atlanta. 

• Randy offered a wrap-up of conference stats:

o Presentation proposals were down this year, but they still received 123 

proposals. 

o Registration cost went down exponentially, and it was free for students.

o 635 people registered: About 40 percent were from academia, including a 

large increase in student registration. 

o Recordings and presentations from the conference are available online. 

o Randy asked that anyone who attended the conference complete the 

conference survey. 

o He thanked the conference sponsors. Finally, he noted that while they are 

anticipating an in-person conference next year, they will be flexible 

depending on pandemic conditions. 

• See presentation and find out more here.

d. NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference 

Susana Barraza, NICE, provided the update.

• The K12 Conference will take place December 7-9, 2020. 

• Registration for the pre-conference workshops is closed. 

• See presentation and find out more here.

VIII. Featured Topic

Topic: Revisions to the Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework)
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• Karen Wetzel, Manager of the NICE Framework, provided the update.

Rodney Petersen introduced Karen Wetzel, the new manager of the NICE Framework.

Karen explained that the NICE Framework has a new title: Workforce Framework for 

Cybersecurity. The new title reflects the idea that the Framework is not only for those 

whose primary work is in cybersecurity but for anyone else who is involved in 

cybersecurity. One of the goals is to expand the use of the Framework:

o Align the Framework to other publications

o Establish processes for regular review and updates

o Include new tools and integration into existing tools

o Identify automation opportunities for tasks

o Expand international outreach and adoption

The Framework is meant to have broad applicability for employers and learners in 

addition to education, training, and credential providers. Its main attributes are agility, 

flexibility, interoperability, and modularity.

The main building blocks of the Framework are tasks, knowledge, and skills. Skills and 

knowledge describe the learner, while tasks describe the work.

The revised Framework introduces competencies as a way for organizations to assess 

learners. Employers help NICE identify the competences. 

NICE is hosting a webinar, “Competencies – The Next Frontier for Closing the 

Cybersecurity Skills Gap,” December 16, 2020. 

Milestones for the Framework in the year ahead include:

o December 20, 2020: New NICE Framework Users Group launches.

o January 21, 2021: Request for Comments to NICE Framework Competencies 

issued.

o February 21, 2021: Requests for comments to change process issued.

o March - September 2021: Community workshops conducted – this is still 

being planned.

o November 21, 2021: Updates to TKS statements, competencies, and work 

roles announced.

• Q&A

In response to a question, Rodney said that a repurposed SP 800-16 is forthcoming. 

SP 800-50 is a publication on the edges of what NICE traditionally does. 

Rodney introduced another new employee in the NICE Program Office, Kofi Ansah-Brew, 

Lead for Government Engagement and FISSEA Program Lead. 

In response to a question about the validity of 2017 NICE data, Karen said that the data 

is still valid, and they will be working to make sure it is up to date. She will discuss that 

further at the webinar this month. They will also be looking TKS statements and work 

roles.

In response to a question about overlays from other organizations being integrated or 

linked with the NICE Framework, Danielle said there are tools in the Resource Center
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that link to different databases. There will soon be tools for pulling the data and using it 

for your own tool creation. There are other websites that allow for more searchable 

versions of the Framework. They will be working on better organizing the resources. 

Karen said one of the goals is to integrate the Framework with existing tools. They want 

to make sure it is as broadly useful as possible and would like feedback on this.

Rodney mentioned the Open Skills Network. He said that the work on the Framework to 

date and in the future is bidirectional: They want to want to hear from others involved 

in this kind of work, and they also want to set the standard that others rely on. 

Rodney thanked everyone for their engagement and reminded them that transitions 

within the NICE community are underway. He thanked all of the subgroups that have 

been actively working for the past couple years and wished everyone safe and happy 

holidays.

• See presentation and fine out more here.

IX. Next Meeting Reminder

The Next NICE Community Coordinating Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 

January 27, 2021.