IDA Ireland, CIT announce cyber security cluster
An initiative to establish a national cyber security cluster in Ireland has been announced today. Facilitated by Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), the national cluster will be called Cyber Ireland and is supported by IDA Ireland. It will provide a collective voice to represent the needs of the cyber security sector across the country and will address key challenges including skills needs, research, and the development of a national community which connects industry, academia and government.
Welcoming the initiative, Minister for Communications, Climate Action & the Environment Richard Bruton said: “Today’s announcement of a National Cyber Security Cluster is a really exciting opportunity. Supported by Cork IT and backed by government funding, this initiative will greatly advance the sector in Ireland, by facilitating greater collaboration between the companies involved. There are already more than 6,000 people employed in Cyber Security here, but there is considerable potential for further growth, particularly with the potential of areas like cloud computing.
“Cyber Ireland will also provide a collective voice for the sector and will provide an avenue for challenges facing the sector to be addressed. Overall the establishment of the cluster will result in a better cyber security response for the State and better outcomes for the companies involved.”
Dr Eoin Byrne, senior researcher in CIT who will lead and manage development of the cluster, said: “For Cyber Ireland to be successful, it needs to be industry-driven, supported by third level education and Government. Without the co-operation of these three pillars, the cluster cannot reach its full potential. Industry must be at the core of the cluster, which needs to be championed by passionate and dedicated leaders. Academia is also critical in addressing the skills and training needs of industry. We look forward to engaging with industry and academia across Ireland in the coming months to develop a programme that is in line with international best practice in cluster development based on key learnings from successful cluster initiatives elsewhere in Europe.”
Cyber Ireland is also supported by a number of leading cyber security and technology firms in Ireland, who called for the establishment of a cluster to represent industry needs and address key challenges, including Johnson Controls International, Dell EMC, IBM, McAfee, McKesson and Trend Micro.
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