In the ever-evolving, high-stakes world of cybersecurity in higher education, how do IT teams and their leaders secure the unique and disparate elements – teaching and learning, research, and administration – of their organizations? CANARIE’s President and CEO knows it’s possible, but only if we Come Together to focus on the opportunities and benefits of partnerships. Canada’s federal government relies on multiple departments and agencies to secure the country, so it follows that our research and education sector can benefit from a similar approach. And the partners engaged in cybersecurity for higher education – CANARIE, BCNET and regional NREN Partners, Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, CanSSOC, and others - offer significant opportunities to strengthen capabilities at each organization, in every region, and across the country. But these partnerships - and the opportunities to strengthen cybersecurity available through them - require actionable data.

The Canadian NREN has come together to ensure that all NREN-connected organizations have the data they need to strengthen cybersecurity posture locally and sector-wide. Through the upcoming Information Security Assessment, funded through CANARIE’s Cybersecurity Initiatives Program, the sector will have a strategic opportunity to assess its cybersecurity capabilities and identify key priority areas for development. And as gaps are filled, sector-wide cybersecurity capabilities evolve, and partnerships strengthen, we can extend these partnerships to explore strategies for talent development and the commercialization of Canadian cybersecurity research. Jim will explore these opportunities and encourage organizational leaders to reject the impulse to Get Back to the way it was done before, and come together to develop a more secure Canada.

Speaker