Business View Magazine - May 2024

businesses working with the idea center, which means 40 to 50 small business owners will attend the college’s monthly workshops across the county. INNOVATIVE TECH PROGRAMS One of Miami Dade College’s core goals is to foster the skillsets companies need for future talent. Right now, there’s a strong technology movement in Miami, specifically a higher demand for employees in the cybersecurity industry. Naturally, MDC has dedicated itself to serving that demand. “Cybersecurity is one of those areas where we invested for the last five years in having the best program in the nation,” says Antonio Delgado, the Vice President of Innovation and Technology Partnerships at Miami Dade College. Just recently, MDC’s cybersecurity received its second accreditation from the National Security Agency (NSA) for its bachelor of cybersecurity program, making it the second such program – after the associate science in cybersecurity degree–to receive that esteemed status. As Delgado points out, these accreditations speak to the quality and advancement of this program, which now educates over 1,000 cybersecurity students. “We just developed these programs five years ago,” says Gonzalez, noting the rapid increase in enrollment. “That speaks about the volume that we can serve in this community.” There are layers to MDC’s enrollment demographic, too. While the college enables young, minority students, it also helps older, established professionals hit their goals. The artificial intelligence program, launched in 2023, serves over 600 students, and most of those folks are older than 35 years of age. “It’s not all about the traditional students,” says Delgado. “It’s really upskilling and rescaling the existing workforce, people that are already working. Even beyond working, even after retirement, they want to still learn more skills.” Cybersecurity and A.I. aren’t the only two areas where Miami Dade College is breaking ground. Around a year ago, the college launched the state of Florida’s first bachelor’s degree program in data analytics. Right away, students saw results. “Today, every single graduate from that program received two to three job offers before they graduate,” Delgado says proudly. In Delgado’s eyes, these job offers reflect how precisely the college arms its students with applied skills that make graduates eligible for high-paying jobs.With a previous lack of data analytics programs, these jobs were often reserved for Master’s or PhD students. Now, Miami Dade College offers a more 56 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 05