‘Creating a pipeline to cybersecurity and education’: Lance Lucas [VIDEO]

Can computer certification training be an effective way to train Baltimore city residents for future IT jobs?
Lance Lucas would have you believe it. As he explained during his TED talk at TEDxBaltimore in January, the certification training he does through his nonprofit Digit All Systems is creating a workforce development “pipeline to cybersecurity” jobs and further education.
Watch Lance Lucas speak at TEDxBaltimore:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iII3si2qKQ4]
Technically Baltimore profiled Lance Lucas last November, from his upbringing in Northwest Baltimore (and time as a counterfeiter in high school) to his founding Digit All Systems, the nonprofit he has run since 1998 that provides A+ and Microsoft certification training courses, in addition to other courses in programming and robotics.
The question of whether it’s more appropriate to train students to be hardware or software specialists is at the center of Lucas’ efforts. With the rapid pace of technological innovation, it seems fair to wonder if certification training is merely equipping people with a set of outdated skills.
But Lucas would argue that A+ must be the foundation, especially for residents of neglected Baltimore neighborhoods who might lack basic computer skills.