Cyber Workforce Competition West (CWC West) - Registration Open Now!

Team registration open November 2–12, 2026. Online qualifier November 14–29, live finals in San Diego February 16–17

Last updated on Nov 2, 2026 News, Updates, Events, Competitions

Overview

The Department of War Chief Information Officer (DoW CIO) Workforce Innovation Directorate is running a new regional cyber competition series, and the Cyber Workforce Competition West (CWC West) is open to teams from National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) institutions. DU is an NCAE-C school, so our students are eligible!

Registration opens today, November 2nd, and closes November 12th. That’s a short window, so if you’re interested, get a team together now.

Teams start with a remote online qualifier. The top 20 teams advance to the live 2-day competition at the San Diego Convention Center, co-located with the AFCEA & U.S. Naval Institute WEST Conference. Teams that do well at CWC West can earn an invitation to the CWC National Championship at Cyber Workforce Summit 3.0 at National Defense University.

Challenge tasks are mapped to DoD 8140.03 and Defense Cyber Workforce Framework (DCWF) work roles, so this is good practice if you’re thinking about a career in government or defense cyber. It’s also a chance to meet military leadership, DoW CIO folks, and industry people at the live event.

Check out the CWC West flyer here.

Event Details

How it works:

Register: November 2–12, 2026 - Form a DU team and register online.
Qualify: November 14–29, 2026 - Compete in the remote online qualification challenge.
Compete live: February 16–17, 2027 - The top 20 teams compete in person at CWC West, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA.
National Championship: April 6–8, 2027 - At Cyber Workforce Summit 3.0, National Defense University.

Register

Teams register as part of their NCAE-C institution, so please also email Nate or CRISP when you sign up (or if you want to compete but need teammates) so we know who is representing DU.

Interested?

If you’re already a student at DU, join the DUCC (DU Cyber Club) slack channel for updates CS@DU Slack, or check out the DU Cyber Club website. You’ll have to join our CS@DU slack workspace first, then join the DUCC channel. This is a great place to find teammates! Email us if you have any issues!

If you’re not already a student at DU, but are interested in learning more, Email us about the courses and programs at the University of Denver, browse this site, or check out the University of Denver Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science main site for more info!

cybersecurity Competition CAE afcea University of Denver

Interested in a formal cybersecurity or computer science degree?

The University of Denver is proud to offer multiple programs in cybersecurity, whether you want to be a manager or a frontline cyber warrior! Check out our program offerings at the DU Cybersecurity Page. We also have a cybersecurity concentration you can get on your way to a Computer Science degree! You can also email us if you want to learn more!

The programs in the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science are strongly technically grounded, and provide a CS/Cyber education for the future of cybersecurity.

Accreditation

The University of Denver is recognized as an NSA (National Security Agency) CAE-CD (Center of Academic Excellence – Cyber Defense). The NSA evaluates and accredits institutions providing cybersecurity degrees and curricula — a rigorous and prestigious validation performed by security experts and members of other educational institutions. It means the coursework of the Cybersecurity MS program at DU aligns with criteria mapped to the US government's NICE framework knowledge units.

More information can be found at the official NSA academic site here.