Page 4097 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 September 2017
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MR STEEL: Why is it important that the ACT government actively seek opportunities to support the growth of this industry?
MR BARR: Our business development strategy focuses on unlocking the significant potential of Canberra’s businesses, people and research and academic institutions in a range of key capability areas where the ACT can be a global player. Cybersecurity was identified as one of those key capability areas, and the ACT government has subsequently played an active role in bringing together the cybersecurity industry in Canberra.
We provided funding in the 2016-17 territory budget to Data61, the former NICTA, to position Canberra as a major player in the development of the growing cybersecurity industry. In 2016, we established the Canberra cyber network with the ANU, the University of New South Wales Canberra, Data61, the University of Canberra and the Canberra Institute of Technology to develop the cybersecurity industry. The network is a response to the commonwealth government’s emphasis on cybersecurity as reflected in the defence white paper and in the national cybersecurity strategy and, of course, through the establishment of the cybersecurity industry growth network.
In April of this year, Canberra was announced as the second node of the Australian cybersecurity growth network. Having a node based in Canberra will help the ACT’s cybersecurity-related businesses to take advantage of an expanding industry and also help them to pursue new opportunities. Activities of the Canberra node will be driven by an industry-led advisory group comprising representatives with strong links to the local cybersecurity industry.
MS ORR: How have recent private investments demonstrated confidence in our city’s cybersecurity and ICT industries?
MR BARR: I think we can say that Canberra is the defence and security policy and procurement centre of Australia, which certainly makes us an attractive location for specialist cybersecurity firms. Our city contains a large and unique cluster of security organisations, including, as I have mentioned, the defence department, ASD, ASIO and the AFP, all interacting with large and small cyber companies and specialist centres in our universities.
Lockheed Martin’s next-generation cybersecurity facility was established in Canberra in 2012 to capitalise on the importance of being close to Australia’s national cyber-related agencies. Also in 2012, Northrop Grumman acquired the Canberra-based M5 Network Security, increasing employment from around 50 to 120 people. M5 Network Security provides cybersecurity services to various clients—military, government and large corporations—with a speciality in secure communications.
More recently, in February of this year, Verizon Enterprise Solutions established its Asia-Pacific Advanced Security Operations Centre in Canberra to deliver real-time insights into cyberthreats. Just last month, Microsoft announced plans to deliver its
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