South Australia is poised to become a centre for cybersecurity innovation and skills development with the establishment of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre at the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct in Adelaide.
According to a report by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia’s small cybersecurity industry is expected to grow from around 20,000 workers today to 31,600 by 2026 and triple its revenue to $6 billion.
The report also states that “the majority of Australian organisations currently lack the capacity to employ large internal cybersecurity teams”.
Once fully operational in 2020, the $8.9 million centre will support start-ups, scale-ups and existing businesses to launch new products and services into global markets.
This capability will create a nation-leading cyber ecosystem in South Australia that contributes to economic growth through new skills, new enterprises, new customers and new investment.
Lot Fourteen is located in a prime CBD location, neighbouring university campuses, commercial businesses, the East End entertainment precinct and Adelaide’s famed Botanic Garden and city parklands. It is on the site of the former Royal Adelaide Hospital, which is being transformed into an innovation and ideas neighbourhood by Renewal SA on behalf of the South Australian Government.
A key element of the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre will be the Cyber Launchpad, which will include a Cyber Academy and the Cyber Test Range.
The Cyber Academy will leverage existing training material where possible from a number of organisations, including from local and overseas universities, but will also develop specific training courses where gaps in the market are identified.
The Cyber Academy will be utilised to train all levels of the cyber workforce, work to raise awareness at a secondary school level, and provide formal training at the technical, professional and C-suite level.
Meanwhile, the Cyber Test Range will provide a facility that organisations can utilise to carry out security testing of equipment or network configurations in the knowledge that their production networks are safe from interference.
It will also provide a capability for Subject Matter Experts, researchers and government to collaborate, whilst allowing cybersecurity devices, software and techniques to be introduced into the environment for certification or standards-based testing to be performed, thereby assisting product to market.
As part of the development, the State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with national security agencies and universities as well as Optus, Symantec and Dtex Systems.