Dr. Paula Musuva (PhD, CISA, CEH)Assistant Professor - Information Systems at USIU-A
Dr. Paula Musuva is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at United States International University - Africa, School of Science and Technology. With over 12 years of teaching experience, Paula has trained more than 2,500 students in various courses with a particular focus in specializations in Information Security, Systems Audit, Cybercrime, and Forensics. She has supervised 21 MSc graduate student theses and is currently supervising 4 PhD candidates. Paula spearheaded the development of the Master of Science in Information Security (MSEC) Program at USIU-Africa and has participated in enhancing the existing master's degree programs and bachelor’s IT and computer science programs through annual quality assessments and curriculum reviews.
Paula is also a co-founder of the Cyber Shujaa Program, where she also serves as the Curriculum and Training director. The Cyber Shujaa program focuses on empowering youth with both technical market-ready skills and essential soft skills for employability and professional growth in cybersecurity. This program, delivered by a consortium comprising Serianu Limited, United States International University - Africa (USIU-Africa), and the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), receives support from the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE). The goal of Cyber Shujaa is to provide 2,000 decent jobs for Kenyan youth by the end of this year, with a commitment to gender equality, aiming for 50% female representation. Paula's role as Curriculum and Training Director involves developing and certifying courses, fostering the growth of Cyber Shujaa's brand through quality training, and producing certified professionals for various cybersecurity roles such as: security analysts, ethical hackers, cloud security specialists, network security engineers, and data protection officers. Through her leadership, the program has trained 2,149 individuals, drawn from over 80 universities and tertiary institutions across Kenya, with 1581 successfully placed in decent jobs translating to over 70% placement rate and a 50% women representation.
Furthermore, Paula has championed Information and Cyber Security research at the Centre for Informatics Research and Innovation (CIRI), resulting in a longstanding partnership with Serianu Limited, notable annual cybersecurity reports, research grants and collaborations with the SWIFT Institute for cyber security research. Paula is also engaged as a consultant for the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) which is a leading multi-stakeholder think tank for ICT policy and regulation. She has been instrumental in the establishment of the Tatua Digital Resilience Center and the delivery of a 5-chapter Cyber Hygiene Curriculum and promotional material for empowering digital citizens with practices to keep them safe online. She has also authored 18 publications in the form of journal articles and conference papers which have enabled her to provide thought leadership in key topics relating to governance, risk management, vulnerability analysis, cybersecurity awareness, cyber hygiene, information systems audit and digital forensics.
Paula holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Nairobi, having excelled throughout her academic journey, including earning a Distinction in the master’s in network systems from the University of Sunderland in the United Kingdom and receiving the Babaroa Trust Award for academic excellence during her BSc in Computer Science at JKUAT.