Staying ahead in the evolving tech landscape requires robust and strategic frameworks. Within this sphere, the Department of Defense Directive (DoDD) 8140 stands at the forefront, focusing on upskilling all active-duty personnel and contractors. This directive unifies the cyber workforce, broadening the scope of pertinent skills and training while providing clear approaches to measurable success.
To provide readers with essential information, this blog will feature expert insights from Dr. James Stanger, Chief Technology Evangelist at CompTIA and President of the C3—who led our compelling webinar, Upskilling the Workforce with 8140: Creating Learning Pathways—to explore DoD 8140, its value, key updates, and how organizations can leverage its resources.
What Is DOD 8140?
Introduced in February 2023 as a replacement for DoD 8570, DoD 8140 aims to align and manage cyber work roles, baseline qualifications, and training requirements. It establishes specific workforce elements and work roles for standardization while opening up the aperture of the skills necessary for training. A key component of DoD 8140 is using the DoD Cyberspace Workforce Framework (DCWF) to identify, track, and report DoD cyberspace positions, laying the groundwork for enterprise-wide baseline qualifications.
The primary goals of DoD 8140 include:
- Providing a larger array of standards-based certification and training options based on 72 defined work roles.
- Allowing DoD workers to choose between certification and training options, such as well-defined work roles or assessment-based training for emerging technologies.
- Attracting, upskilling, and retaining an inclusive workforce and tracking progress, ensuring the DoD workforce reflects the diversity of skills, perspectives, and experiences found in the overall population.
Why Is DOD 8140 Important?
Globally, leaders face root-cause problems like technical debt, shadow IT, poor communication, and immature processes. These challenges demand a diverse workforce encompassing varied perspectives and critical skills such as incident response, network transport, web technologies, and assisted decision-making.
Geared toward this objective, DoD 8140 provides a foundation for fostering an adaptable workforce capable of navigating the complexities of the cyber landscape. This focus also paves the way for achieving information and technical dominance, enabling the DoD to support advanced technologies, protect against new attack surfaces, and develop innovative solutions.
Notably, DoD 8140 emphasizes data-driven methods, focusing on metrics to evaluate upskilling progress. This supports the implementation of proper training programs, directly impacting over 75,000 active duty personnel, civil servants, and contractors, respectively.
What Are the Key Changes Included in DOD 8140?
DoD 8140 establishes seven workforce elements: IT (Cyberspace), Cybersecurity, Cyberspace Effects, Intelligence (Cyberspace), Cyberspace Enablers, Software Engineering, and AI/Data. Each element is accompanied by specific work roles and new DCWF codes based on an individual's work rather than their positions, titles, occupational series, or designator. This allows for a more accurate alignment of skills and responsibilities.
Using this information, the qualification matrices cover foundational, residential, and annual maintenance qualification requirements, along with basic, intermediate, and advanced proficiency levels, offering a structured approach to skill development.
Additionally, new training qualifications require offerings to be ISO/ANSI certified, guaranteeing industry-standard processes that promote transparency and explainability. Certifications must be fair and accessible, and courses must include an assessment component.
How Can You Leverage DOD 8140 Resources?
To begin creating your upskilling pathway, it is essential to grasp the fundamental aspects of DoD 8140:
- Fact Sheet: Access an overview of the directive and a sample qualification matrix.
- Elements Map: View the workforce elements and the associated work roles with DCWF codes.
- Work Roles: Search work roles, filter by workforce elements or DCWF and NIST codes, and see the core knowledge, skills, abilities, and tasks (KSAT) required.
After establishing a solid understanding of these concepts, dive deeper into the specific qualifications and training available:
- Qualification Matrices: Review matrices that denote proposed foundational and residential qualification options, requirements, and proficiency levels.
- Cyber Workforce Qualification Provider Marketplace: Discover training programs approved for use or being evaluated, filtering by provider, offering, or work role code. Export search results to an Excel spreadsheet to take actionable steps in progressing with an upskilling program.
Discover DOD 8140 Compliant Training
Skillsoft Global Knowledge is ready to support your learning journey, offering 8140-compliant training that aligns with multiple work roles. Our offerings include study guides and digests, pre- and post-assessment questions, test vouchers, certification preparation, program management, post-training support and testing, and tracking and reporting.
Get started today with some of our top certification prep courses:
- CyberSec First Responder: Threat Detection and Response: Validate high-stakes skills needed to serve organizations before, during, and after a breach. Discover how to analyze threats, design secure computing and network environments, proactively defend networks, and respond to and investigate cybersecurity incidents.
- CND - Certified Network Defender: Gain the expertise to foster resiliency and continuity of operations during cyberattacks. Design successful network security policies and incident response plans, focusing on topics like perimeter appliances, firewall configuration, network traffic signature, analysis, and vulnerability scanning.
- CASP+ - CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner: Build advanced-level competency in risk management, enterprise security operations and architecture, research and collaboration, and integration of enterprise security. Ideal for hands-on practitioners aiming to conceptualize, engineer, integrate, and implement secure solutions.
- CISM - Certified Information Security Manager: Improve knowledge of information security governance, risk management, program development, and incident management. Develop key proficiencies and get the visibility needed to attain top-caliber leadership and management roles.
- CCNP Security: Demonstrate the ability to design and implement cloud security architecture, user and device security, network security, assurance, and more, now including automation and programmability to scale your security infrastructure. Several recommended courses are available to achieve this designation.
As Dr. Stanger reminds us, DoD 8140 is not a static directive; it is undergoing frequent updates. To remain informed on the latest changes and find additional training, visit our DoD 8140 web page. You can also contact us at Government.US@skillsoft.com to learn more about our DoD cyberspace workforce learning solutions.
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