Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University has received equipment from the USAID Cybersecurity for Ukraine’s Critical Infrastructure Project.
The list of equipment received includes: 3 servers with uninterruptible power supply, 5 network data storages, 43 personal computers, 12 laptops, 12 multimedia projectors and screens for them, 12 multifunctional devices, 4 TVs, 2 firewalls and other network communication equipment (switches, WiFi access points, PoE injectors), computer peripherals (webcams, audio headsets).
The received equipment allowed us to significantly improve the university’s IT infrastructure, expand opportunities for the development of Digital University services, and enable students of specialized specialties to acquire competencies using state-of-the-art IT solutions in the field of cybersecurity, network and cloud technologies.
Currently, work is underway to create the CyberNET educational and research laboratory of cybersecurity and network information technologies. This will allow higher education students and researchers in the field of knowledge 12 “Information Technology” to conduct experiments with network technologies, work out scenarios for countering cyberattacks, and use cloud solutions and artificial intelligence tools to improve the stability and reliability of information systems for various applications. The laboratory is scheduled to open in late March 2024.
The equipment will be used by more than 270 higher education students who are currently studying in the specialties 121 “Software Engineering”, 122 “Computer Science”, 123 “Computer Engineering”, 125 “Cybersecurity”, 126 “Information Systems and Technologies”. To increase the ability of future specialists to counter cyber threats, the elective course “Cybersecurity in the context of informatization and digitalization of society” will be taught on the basis of this laboratory. The course was developed jointly with leading experts from Purdue University (USA) and will be available to all students of our university.
Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University is sincerely grateful to the USAID Project “Cybersecurity of Ukraine’s Critical Infrastructure”. Thanks to the support from USAID, our higher education students have the opportunity to conduct research, prepare for participation in student cyber competitions, Olympiads, implement their own research projects, and future professionals who are not related to the IT industry – to popularize cybersecurity issues, which is extremely important in the current conditions of digitalization of any field of activity.
In total, the USAID Cybersecurity Project has provided 5,000 pieces of equipment and 4,000 licenses to 25 universities. This is more than 50% of all Ukrainian higher education institutions that provide training in cybersecurity and information protection. Most of the institutions that received the equipment suffered from shelling and bombing by Russia or lost their classrooms. The new computer equipment will help them resume the educational process.
For reference: USAID’s Ukraine Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Project works to reduce and potentially eliminate cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Ukraine’s critical infrastructure sectors, as well as to develop new cybersecurity personnel, build talent capacity, and strengthen Ukraine’s ability to prepare for cyberattacks.