Importance of cyber security brought American students to Estonia

From 8 to 15 March, students of Marymount University participate in the international continuing education programme on cyber security at the University of Tartu. Participants of the programme visit the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia as well as Skype, Microsoft and other enterprises in Estonia and Finland.

The 24 students participating in the programme come from various countries, including the USA, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Barbados, India and Ethiopia.

Students of Marymount University learn about the success story of e-Estonia, the development of the field of IT and cyber defence and acquire knowledge during practical seminars and meetings at enterprises and institutions. Lectures are held, among others, by the Associate Professor of Software Systems Raimundas Matulevicius, Professor of Information Security Dominique Unruh and Research Fellow in Social Communication Kristina Reinsalu from the University of Tartu.

According to Professor Diane Murphy, leader of the group from Marymount University, their students are specialised in cyber security. The programme aims to introduce e-governance, e-voting and other e-services Estonia is known for in the world. “The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, the research conducted there as well as Skype are additional magnets that bring American students to participate in a continuing education programme in Estonia. It is also important to see the local business environment which has been the starting point of many internationally successful IT-related companies,” added Murphy.

This continuing education programme has been developed on the basis of the University of Tartu International Summer University. At the moment, also students of Hokkaido University participate in the international continuing education of the University of Tartu, studying English language and culture.

For more information, see www.isu.ut.ee

Additional information: Mari-Ann Susi, Programme Director for International Summer University, Lifelong Learning Centre of the University of Tartu, tel +372 737 6609, +372 501 4388, email: mari‑[email protected].