DEVELOPMENT OF AN EDUCATION SYSTEM IN A FIELD OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION: COMPETENCIES OF GRADUATES AND CONTENT OF EDUCATIONAL DISCIPLINES
Authors:   National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kyiv, Ukraine, SUKHODOLIA Oleksandr 
Published: November 2024

Background . The Law of Ukraine "On Critical Infrastructure" defines the task of ensuring the security and resilience of critical infrastructure. The practice of implementation of the Law provisions shows the need to introduce a system of education and training of personnel in this area. The observed tendencies of increasing of the range of threats to critical infrastructure, in particular during armed conflict, only emphasize the urgency of raising the level of knowledge and skills of personnel in this area. The purpose of the article is to review potential formats of education and identification of fields of knowledge and specialties within which it is appropriate to reflect issues of critical infrastructure protection in the educational process. Among the important tasks of the article are: a review of research on the problems and the practice of implementation of the educational process in this field, an analysis of legislative and organizational opportunities for the introduction of educational programs, a review of higher education standards and programs, identification of basic competencies of graduates and program results of studies in this area. Methods . There were used methods of theoretical-methodological and comparative analysis for the developing conceptual approaches to the organization of education process on the issues of security and resilience of critical infrastructure. The system-functional analysis of the tasks of the subjects responsible for critical infrastructure protection was used to determine the fields of knowledge and specialties in which it is appropriate to train specialists. Methods of system analysis to form a list of program results of training in this area. Results . The article proposes a methodical approach to determining the necessary competencies, knowledge and skills of the personnel of the subjects of the national system of critical infrastructure protection. The list of specialties in which it is expedient to train specialists by higher education institutions of Ukraine has been defined. A set of competencies and program learning outcomes have been developed, which could serve as basic for developing educational standards and educational programs. A set of educational disciplines is offered that can be a component of the educational process in selected specialties. Conclusions . The article substantiates the legislative conditionality and scientific and practical relevance to establish the system of specialists training in the field of critical infrastructure protection. Though, the training system can cover various forms and methods of training, at the current stage of development of the national critical infrastructure protection system of Ukraine, it is advisable to introduce separate educational programs within the framework of existing educational programs of defined set of specialties. There has been developed the competencies and program outcomes for graduates. A set of educational disciplines that can be a component of the educational process in selected specialties is also proposed. In future, it is necessary to continue research on the development of specific educational programs on the security and resilience of critical infrastructure for various specialties.