Two Heads are Better than One: NREN Collaboration for Scalable Automation

Join subject matter experts from BCNET, CANARIE and Cybera sharing insights, experiences and solutions related to the National Cybersecurity Assessment (NCA) report analysis and automation project. This project brought expertise across the NREN with a common challenge to build automated processes for the NCA service which has its own unique challenges and objectives.

We will be showcasing the strategy, technology, and collaborative efforts from multiple perspectives in this interactive session. For Cybera data scientists, this collaboration represented an opportunity to apply data-centric principles to a burgeoning NREN service area that was beginning to outgrow its current processes. For CANARIE analysts, leveraging automation would help their subject matter expertise improve efficiencies and scale efficiently to take the project to the next level and provide more value for member organizations. With only a short window to complete this pilot, we relied on each other’s expertise to develop a framework for future collaborations on the NCA project and more.

We will provide some data examples with anonymized data and dive into how we tackled each challenge, with takeaways on simple steps to improve automation and better utilize the time of subject matter experts. Moreover, we’ll highlight how diverse skill sets can come together to solve seemingly complex problems.