According to Australian Cyber Security Growth Network CEO Craig Davies, there are three big opportunities facing the local cybersecurity sector.
Australian cybersecurity researchers are highly regarded overseas, according to Davies, and Australia needs a sovereign cybersecurity capability, as well as opportunities for skilled people to do new work without leaving the country.
"We want to create a vibrant industry," he told CSIRO's D61Live event in Melbourne, and suggested three ways this could be achieved.
Firstly, the aim should be to grow the entire Australian cycbersecurity ecosystem, not just parts of it. He suggested commercialisation pathways are particularly important, so there are ways for small firms to work with government, and ways to make it easier for businesses to find Australian security products.
{loadposition stephen08}Secondly, "we cannot be successful selling to ourselves," he said - exports are essential. What's required is a way to make Australian products known to potential buyers overseas.
Thirdly, Australia needs to become a leading centre for cybersecurity education. He identified successes such as Box Hill TAFE as well as the Oceania Cyber Security Centre (backed by eight Victorian universities and the state government). The sector needs to develop new pathways to entry, so that behavioural scientists and data scientists, among others, are encouraged to consider the opportunities in cybersecurity.
The country also needs to build on its ability to educate foreign students. "We do it quite well," he said, but while the researchers are in place we need to make it easier for prospective students.
These aren't the only concerns of the Network. "We're looking to find every single lever we can pull" on order to create a local cybersecurity ecosystem, train more people in cybersecurity, get them into local companies, and bring expat cybersecurity specialists back home said Davies.