Today, WEtech Alliance released its report, “The Cybersecurity Path: Positioning Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent for the Future,” the culmination of a nine-month exploration of the tech sector in the Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent region made possible through the support of Invest WindsorEssex’s Automobility & Innovation Centre, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN), the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI).
The Cybersecurity Path is an initiative to determine how best to support the tech community to engage talent and employers through the several sub-domains of cybersecurity. The findings provide an overview of the key challenges and opportunities for this region, and include a list of recommendations.
In August 2020, WEtech Alliance engaged Dr. Victoria Abboud to lead the research. As Tech Talent Strategist, Dr. Abboud brought her experience in research, education, and tech to develop a research strategy that could answer the region’s questions about the position of, and potential for, cybersecurity for the future.
“Cybersecurity is more than an opportunity for jobs. It involves adapting, building, and shaping the future of technology, goods, and even the ways we interact.”
– Dr. Victoria Abboud
“Our collective abilities to engage, to explore, and to expand our reach rely on our awareness and protection of our cyber interests,” says Dr. Abboud. “The key is ensuring that we move intentionally with clarity of purpose. Focusing on regional collaboration and investment in people and opportunities – in all their diversity – can help us do that.”
The 40-page Cybersecurity Path report explores the key recommendations generated through the research and interviews from this report include systems-level levers, research and development, skills and training, and community investment.
“One organization cannot create a cybersecurity region alone,” explains Frank Abbruzzese, President at AlphaKOR Group. “Collaboration and engagement across industry sectors and post-secondary institutions will be critically important in tackling the challenges and to boost the region’s economic security and global competitiveness in cybersecurity.”
Through active engagement and collaboration among education, government, and business, leaders can support this region to become a strong global player in the cybersecurity industry. The results of this report suggest automobility and automotive cybersecurity as the ways of the region’s future.
“The Windsor-Essex region is transitioning from Canada’s Automotive Capital to Canada’s Automobility Capital.”
– Matthew Johnson
“As technology rapidly advances and vehicles become increasingly connected, ensuring that they are secure from cyberattacks and vulnerabilities is critical for the safety of society,” says Matthew Johnson, Executive Director of Mobility Partnerships and Innovation at Invest WindsorEssex. “Having an ecosystem that leads in the development of Automotive Cybersecurity is required for the ongoing protection of Vehicle Security, V2X Security, Cybersecurity of the Supply Chain and Fleet Cybersecurity. Since Windsor-Essex has been a leader in the automotive sector for over a century – our continued advancements in areas like Automotive Cybersecurity will ensure that we are positioned as leaders well into the next century as well.”