Learning Through Innovation – ISC2 Unified Body of Knowledge

ISC2 is on an unprecedented journey to create the cybersecurity industry’s first Unified Body of Knowledge. This project will result in a publicly available guide composed of well-sourced, accurate information to support the educational needs of cybersecurity professionals. It will also help policymakers, regulators and government agencies identify the skills and practices necessary to secure organizations of all sizes more effectively. To accomplish this, we are calling upon our global community of nearly 250,000 certified members to join us in collaborative working groups. So far, 239 volunteer ISC2 members representing 38 nations have signed on as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Your expert experience is needed – join us to help build the first singular corpus of cybersecurity principles, terminology and best practices.

The Unified Body of Knowledge project has seen great successes since its announcement earlier this year. Reflecting on the achievements so far, the major accomplishments include developing an infrastructure and systems to support this unparalleled project.

Coordinating ISC2 Members Globally

Our 100+ engaged volunteers are finding success collaborating worldwide while navigating around time zones and their daily roles. Timing announcements for working participants has its challenges but the project found a lead time of two to four weeks to be most successful. These communications are shared with registered volunteers and include open participation windows, workshop dates and more. To ensure the project is accessible to all levels of engagement, there are two workshop types:

• Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) – Volunteers complete daily and/or weekly tasks within their own schedules. Live meetings are recorded so participants can catch up at their convenience while still meeting their individual goals. These volunteers conduct a comprehensive inventory of existing content and knowledge sources related to a certification. They evaluate the quality, relevance and accuracy to identify any outdated or redundant materials and assess gaps in knowledge.
• Content Advisory Panel (CAP) – Workshops are held during set times to support the crucial conversations necessary for knowledge transfer. These volunteers commit to three consecutive days of meetings and live virtual collaboration. They evaluate the TAP’s submissions for quality, accuracy, relevance and adherence to editorial guidelines and standards. This group offers detailed feedback and recommendations to authors, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement.

Overcoming Unknowns

As we’ve mentioned, this project is not like any we’ve seen in the cybersecurity community. We are navigating, and will continue to navigate, through uncharted waters to deliver a living guide that will grow and adapt to support the future of the profession. Along the way, the team is identifying and managing threats and opportunities as they arise. As with many cybersecurity challenges, timing is crucial when problem solving.

• Breaking Down Challenges – To quickly manage road bumps, we see each challenge as a mini experiment. Breaking down obstacles and tackling them independently has been an effective time and cost saver. One example was a workshop evaluation; our findings allowed us to quickly revisit how these meetings were operating, which ultimately made them more effective.
• Trusting the Process – Even though there are variables and evolutions to the initial plan, these many small actions are collectively cascading into a tremendous result. Our team’s mission, above all else, is to keep the members’ best interests in mind. The Unified Body of Knowledge is for the profession and ISC2 members make up the best and brightest within it.

Future Planning

A key component to the future success of the project is to maintain volunteer engagement. By offering participants a great experience, we can motivate them to share project opportunities with their peers.

Since time is the one commodity that can’t be created, it is important to our internal ISC2 working group that all participants feel their time is productive and valuable. Our intention is to highlight the meaningful work, provide beneficial camaraderie and professional recognition so that the member volunteers leave with more than just CPE credits but a sense of fulfillment. Honest input from project participants is wanted and needed to create the best possible version of the project.