Security education as a priority for cooperation between academia and security forces
24 June 2024, Faculty of Law, Comenius University Bratislava
The deteriorating security situation influenced by both external and internal factors resulted in cooperation between the Faculty of Law of Comenius University Bratislava (PraF UK), the Slovak Information Service (SIS), the National Security Authority (NBÚ), the Military Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic (VS) and the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (FIIT STU).
Based on the initiative among SIS, PraF UK, and FIIT STU, which started in 2023, all the mentioned institutions have prepared an educational programme called Security Studies, which will welcome its first participants from the new academic year 2024/2025. The negotiations were formally concluded by signing of a five-party agreement on cooperation, which was signed by PraF UK Dean Eduard Burda, SIS Deputy Director Pavol Gašpar, NBU Director Roman Konečný, VS Director Juraj Štefanka and FIIT STU Dean Ivan Kotuliak. The cooperation agreement was signed on June 24, 2024 at PraF UK.
The agreement signatories agreed that the deteriorated security situation created by the mass reporting of bomb attacks or in connection with the assassination of the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, as well as the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, requires clear messages from the public authorities, coupled with concrete steps aimed at improving the security environment and raising awareness in the security sector. "We see this initiative in the field of awareness and education as an appropriate contribution to mitigate the current negative phenomena and security threats in society. At the same time, we perceive trends in education in the field of law that increasingly require narrower specialisation and interdisciplinary approaches. We have been implementing the link between academic approach and practice at PraF UK since the last reform of the study programme Law. Now it is the turn of lifelong learning." said Eduard Burda, PraF UK Dean.
"I am glad that together we managed to create such an important educational platform, which today also includes two new entities in the field of strengthening information security and state security, which has become a very topical issue recently. Our common mission will be to arrange and provide high-quality education in the field of information and cyber security. FIIT STU also strongly supports ongoing education, which allows to increase the qualification of employees in this area by the FIIT Academy project. It is the interconnection of three areas: computer science, law and security that can contribute to a significant increase in security in the Slovak Republic." said Ivan Kotuliak, FIIT STU Dean.
Security studies will be organised in the form of a two-semester educational programme. Those interested in deepening their knowledge in the field of security will gradually get acquainted with the issues of national and international security policy, legal regulation in the security field, as well as the functioning of security forces. They will also deal with issues of information security and cyber security. They will also focus on the analysis of current security threats.
The educational programme is intended for employees of the state security forces, public administration employees dealing with security issues. The educational programme is designed to be suitable for middle and senior management of private companies providing security and protection and security of information and information flows, such as corporations, banks and private security services. Its completion will also be beneficial for persons with a university degree in the field of security, law, and information technologies, particularly as it will include a module aimed at direct contact of academy participants with important personalities working in security at the national and international level.
The press release can be found HERE
Further information on the programme can be found HERE