Systematic Solutions for Ensuring a Competent Cybersecurity Workforce: A Comparative Analysis of Best Practices in Selected Countries

The shortage of cyber security and information security professionals is a key challenge of digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and national resilience. This paper presents a preparatory study for a doctoral research project aimed at developing a conceptual model to reduce the gap between higher education and labour market needs in cyber security in Slovenia. It builds on findings from a preliminary survey of 235 Slovenian organisations, revealing significant competence gaps, structural barriers to workforce development, and the impact of legislation (NIS2, ZInfV-1) on organisational and HR measures. To place the findings in a broader context, a comparative analysis of Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Canada was conducted. The results confirm workforce shortages across the analysed countries and highlight good practices such as national competence centres, needs modelling, and systematic labour market monitoring. The paper represents a first step toward a data-driven approach to strengthening cyber security competences in Slovenia.