Minister Champagne, what are the key objectives of the National Cybersecurity Consortium and its strategies to enhance Canada’s cybersecurity?
Our government is committed to ensuring Canada is a global leader in cyber security innovation and talent development, helping build Canadians’ trust in the digital world. That’s why the government launched the Cyber Security Innovation Network (CSIN) program to expand research and development, commercialization, and skilled cyber security talent in Canada.
On February 17, 2022, the National Cybersecurity Consortium (NCC) was selected to lead the CSIN in partnership with academia and industry. The key objectives of the program are to support research and development in cyber security. This will be achieved by encouraging collaboration between academia and the private sector, accelerating the commercialization of cybersecurity products, services, and processes that enter the marketplace, and diversifying, expanding, and deepening Canada’s cyber security talent pipeline. This includes the recruitment and retention of faculty, trainers, and instructors, and providing more resources for curriculum development, training, reskilling, and upskilling of the cyber security workforce through initiatives designed and delivered in collaboration with industry partners.
How does the consortium plan to foster collaboration between government, industry, and academia to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats?
The NCC works with academia, the private sector, not-for-profit sectors, and other levels of government from across Canada to support innovations that contribute to the growth of the cyber security ecosystem in Canada.
Activities and outcomes include:
- Addressing businesses and citizens’ growing demand for cyber security solutions which accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic due to remote work and rapid digitization;
- Supporting research and development in cyber security by encouraging collaboration between Canada’s post-secondary institutions, the private sector, and other partners in order to accelerate the development of innovative cyber security products, processes, and/or services;
- Accelerating the commercialization of cyber security products, services, and/or processes;
- Diversifying, deepening, and expanding Canada’s cyber security pipeline of talent through the recruitment and retention of faculty, trainers, and instructors;
- Providing more resources to curriculum development, training, reskilling, and upskilling of the cyber security workforce through initiatives designed and delivered in collaboration with industry partners; and
- Helping to address the gap due to a shortage of skilled cyber security talent in Canada.
By encouraging partnerships between academia and industry, the network will help address the shortage of cyber security specialists and help foster a strong national cyber security ecosystem in Canada.
