December. Critical Infrastructure Protection Month.

Recognizing Critical Infrastructure Protection Month

President Obama declared December National Critical Infrastructure Protection Month.

Our Nation’s critical infrastructure includes everything from power plants, chemical facilities and cyber networks to bridges and highways, stadiums and shopping malls, as well as the federal buildings where millions of Americans work and visit each day.

Protecting these assets is a shared responsibility. As required by the National Infrastructure Protection Plan, The Department of Homeland Security leads this effort  through a framework of public-private partnerships in close collaboration with the 18 critical infrastructure sectors, which include federal, state, and local governments as well as private sector infrastructure owners and operators.

Since September 11th, DHS has made great strides to improve the security and resiliency of national critical infrastructure. One of the most significant developments has been the linking of physical and cyber infrastructure.  Businesses, governments, and individuals all rely on a vast and interdependent network of physical and cyber systems.  At DHS, we continue to work with industry to identify and mitigate threats to the industrial control systems that operate everything from the power supply to water filtration.

An aware and vigilant public is a critical part of securing critical infrastructure. As Secretary Napolitano has said, “Homeland security starts with hometown security and everyone has a role to play.”

The Department’s "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign is a simple and effective program to raise public awareness of suspicious behavior and to emphasize the importance of reporting such activity to the proper state and local law enforcement authorities.

Throughout this month, the Department will reach out to our partners and the public to raise awareness of what we can all do to protect and improve the resiliency of the nation’s vast array of critical assets and systems. It will take all of us working together to ensure these resources remain strong for the next generation.

Follow the Department’s critical infrastructure protection and resilience programs at www.dhs.gov/criticalinfrastructure.

$25,000 Prize. VA Announces “Badges for Vets” Contest

VA Announces “Badges for Vets” Contest

Goal: Help Vets Get Jobs

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced the Badges for Vets contest for creating digital “badge” systems to help Veterans translate their military skills into civilian jobs. 
“We are looking for ways to make it easy for employers to see Veterans for who they are: highly qualified individuals in any job applicant pool,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.  “We want to help good jobs find Veterans and help Veterans find good jobs.”

A “digital badge” recognizes skills obtained through non-traditional learning, such as work-related training, online courses, and experience. Learners display their badges across the Web, resulting in jobs or formal credit.

“Many recently discharged Veterans earned employable skills during their time in uniform,” said Jonah Czerwinski, director of the VA Innovations Initiative that sponsors the new contest.  “They represent high-quality training and real-life experience.  We’re looking for new ways for employers to easily identify Veterans who have this training and this experience to fill good jobs in the private sector.”

VA is joined by the Departments of Education, Energy, and Labor to sponsor the “Badges for Vets” contest as part of the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition administered by a consortium supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation.

VA Innovations Initiative (VAi2) will award up to three $25,000 prizes in five categories to teams that demonstrate they can develop and deliver digital badges representing skills learned in the military that are desired by civilian employers.   

Entries in the contest are due by Jan. 12, 2012, and winners will be announced at the Digital Media and Learning Conference in San Francisco Feb. 28-March 3.

VAi2 solicits the most promising ideas from VA employees, the private sector, non-profit organizations and academia to increase Veterans’ access to VA services, improve the quality of those services, enhance the performance of VA operations and deliver services more efficiently.  

Information about the Badges for Lifelong Learning Competition: 

http://www.dmlcompetition.net/