Cyber Innovation Center (CIC) president Kevin Nolten participated in a White House roundtable Thursday hosted by First Lady Melania Trump that focused on artificial intelligence education.
The session brought together senior administration officials including the secretaries of Agriculture, Education, Energy and Labor, as well as leaders from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation. The discussion centered on preparing students to use AI responsibly while addressing risks such as disinformation, automated attacks and privacy challenges.
CIC, through its workforce and academic initiative CYBER.ORG, has worked for more than a decade to provide cybersecurity and technology education to K–12 schools. The organization says its curricula aim to integrate AI into classrooms in a way that highlights both its potential and its risks.
“The CIC offers age-appropriate, ethical and educationally relevant curricula that lays an early foundation and helps build the skills needed to pursue continued education in emerging technologies like AI,” Nolten said.
According to CIC, its programs have reached more than 45,000 educators and 5.6 million students across all 50 states and four U.S. territories. Over the next year, the center plans to train 6,500 additional educators, reach 1 million more students and host 250 professional development events nationwide.
Federal agencies and partners are under pressure to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity and AI workforce. CIC leaders say early education is critical to building that talent pipeline.
“Because AI is both a powerful defense tool and a potential weapon, it is an essential component of modern cybersecurity education, and we are proud to support this taskforce,” Nolten said.
CIC is based in Bossier City, Louisiana, where it anchors the National Cyber Research Park.