The University of North Texas on Wednesday announced new degree programs in cybersecurity and geographic information systems to meet the growing demands of the technology industry.
To help strengthen the pipeline for cybersecurity and GIS talent, UNT students will be able to earn bachelor’s or master’s degrees in cybersecurity and bachelor’s degrees in geographic information systems, with a focus on computer science, beginning in the fall 2021 semester.
“We want to equip our students to become leaders in the rapidly changing and often unchartered environment that cybersecurity operates in,” UNT Provost Jennifer Cowley said in a press release. “That means not only giving them the knowledge they need to thrive today, but also instilling a valuable skillset that encourages innovative thinking for solving the needs of tomorrow.”
The new bachelor of science in geographic information systems and computer science will teach students how cloud computing, big data and the “internet of things” has impacted geospatial data and how to use use remote sensing, enterprise geographic information systems, computer networks, security, data mining, graphics and artificial intelligence to analyze GIS data and solve complex business problems.
Students in the cybersecurity program will learn about defensive and offensive cybersecurity, artificial intelligence-based security analysis, machine learning, data security, vulnerability analysis and activities in evaluating the trustworthiness of systems.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the United States currently has 300,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs, and fields like health care, education and transportation are increasingly using data and GIS to communicate, perform analysis, share information and solve complex problems.
