Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Carleton University and Partners Launch International Cybersecurity Initiative

Carleton University, along with Queen’s University (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Cyberspark (Be’er-Sheva, Israel) have launched the 14-member Global EPIC, a new international cybersecurity initiative designed to combat growing world challenges by facilitating global collaboration while enabling positive local cybersecurity and economic benefits.

The organization was announced today at the European Cybersecurity Forum (CYBERSEC 2017) in Krakow, Poland, and has members from 10 countries on three continents that are experts in entrepreneurial and cybersecurity knowledge and tend to co-ordinate resources from academia, industry and government.

Cybersecurity threats are a global challenge disrupting local modern living. Hardly a day goes by without news of another harmful attack, suggesting current approaches to cybersecurity are failing. Isolating cybersecurity as its own “special domain” misreads its inherent embodiment in all sectors and levels of society. Consequently, new and effective approaches are required if the world is to achieve the global and local benefits offered by cyber and cyber-enabled technologies.

“Today, here in Krakow, we are laying the foundations of the platform which will bring innovators to the forefront of the fight against emerging cyber-challenges,’’ said Izabela Albrycht, chair of the Kosciuszko Institute and the CYBERSEC Organizing Committee. “Building a global knowledge-sharing community with cross-sectorial stakeholders is a must in the face of rapidly expanding cyber-threats.”

“I expect important economic benefits, such as job creation, revenue enhancement and investment,’’ noted Dan Craigen, director of Carleton’s Global Cybersecurity Resource (GCR), which equips high-growth companies with the skills, resources and linkages required to develop novel cyber products and services, with the explicit intent that “companies must scale globally and securely to succeed.’’

CyberSpark CEO Roni Zehavi said the organization “commences a new era, on which the being and doing at the local level would turn into a sustainable and well-orchestrated operation at the global one.”

Godfrey Gaston, director of the Queen’s University Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) in Belfast, said Global EPIC represents an escalation “to tackle head on the challenges citizens, businesses and governments face in supporting the shift to an interconnected digital economy.  It is a win/win for organizations and regions involved and we at CSIT are proud to be a founding keystone organization.”

Global EPIC has set a target of 50 member cybersecurity ecosystems by October 2020. For further information on Global EPIC, please visit https://globalepic.org/.

Others who joined Global EPIC prior to CYBERSEC 2017 are: bwtech@UMBC (Baltimore, U.S.); CyberTech Network (San Diego, U.S); Cyber Wales (Cardiff, U.K.); Innovation Boulevard (Surrey, Canada); La Fundación INCYDE (Madrid, Spain); LSEC (Heverlee, Belgium); Politecnico di Torino (Turin, Italy); Procomer (Heredia, Costa Rica); The Hague Security Delta (The Hague, Netherlands); The Kosciuszko Institute (Krakow, Poland); and the University of New Brunswick (Fredericton, Canada).

About the Global Cybersecurity Resource:

The GCR, which is managed by the Technology Innovation Management program of Carleton University, is equipping high-growth cybersecurity and cybersecurity-differentiated companies with the skills, resources and linkages required to be successful. It helps individuals who wish to develop cybersecurity capabilities and consumers of cybersecurity services. The GCR operates from Bayview Yards, the premier innovation hub in Canada’s capital city. Further information can be found at cugcr.org.

CYBERSEC 2017

European Cybersecurity Forum – CYBERSEC is the first conference of its kind in Poland and one of just a few regular public policy conferences devoted to the strategic issues of cyberspace and cybersecurity in Europe. The annual conference sees the participation of key experts in the field of cybersecurity, privacy and policy. More information about the Forum is available at www.cybersecforum.eu

Media Contact
Steven Reid
Media Relations Officer
Carleton University
613-520-2600, ext. 8718
613-265-6613
[email protected]

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