Siemens Establishing Fredericton Cybersecurity Centre in Knowledge Park
The province is poised to make an announcement Wednesday about Siemens establishing its cybersecurity centre in Fredericton, the CEO of Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB) said in an interview with Huddle.
Stephen Lund didn’t provide many details in an interview Monday at Huddle’s office, but he did say the company’s Canadian operations will be located in Knowledge Park in Fredericton.
The Wednesday announcement will take place in Toronto, which will draw attention to what Lund calls a nationally significant story.
“The global CEO will be there with our premier,” said Lund. “This is a Canadian story, not just a New Brunswick story. It’s a major international company setting up in Canada.
“[Siemens is] a major [global] company that’s going to put their centre of cybersecurity in Canada and we had to compete with jurisdictions around the world. This will send a message across the world that Canada – New Brunswick – is a major player in what we’re doing in cybersecurity.”
Siemens Canada already has a presence in the province as one of the partners in the Smart Grid Innovation Network.
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Lund says the province has been a national leader in cybersecurity. He cites the plan they put in place to attract companies here and the creation of Cyber NB, a special operating agency of ONB that is focused on skills and workforce development, R&D, protecting critical infrastructure, innovation and building a “world-class” ecosystem in cybersecurity.
“We are considered the leader in cybersecurity in Canada,” said Lund. “We created CyberNB a few years ago, way ahead of the wave of cybersecurity.”
Lund also highlights recent announcements like the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) decision to locate its National Innovation Centre in Fredericton.
The nuclear science and technology company said the centre will significantly expand its cybersecurity research capabilities.
“CNL is pleased to join a growing cyber cluster that is rapidly transforming New Brunswick into a cybersecurity research and innovation hub,” said Mark Lesinski, president and CEO of CNL, at the time of the announcement.
Lund says there may be even more opportunities to grow the cybersecurity sector with companies that already have a presence here and recognize that the province is developing an expertise in this area.
“Think of all the companies that are already here, whether it’s the Irvings, McCains, WestJet, IBM or TD Bank. Cybersecurity is slowly becoming the number one issue for all these companies,” said Lund.
He says any of them could decide New Brunswick is the place to locate their cybersecurity division.
Lund says finding skilled workers for this emerging industry will be critical. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts by 2021 there will be 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs that will be unfilled around the world.
CyberNB recently hosted the CyberSmart summit on workforce development in Fredericton, featuring experts from the U.S., Australia and the U.K.
The agency is working with the public schools, colleges and universities to address the training needs that will allow the province to keep up with the growing demand for people to fill the jobs in this sector.
Lund says workforce development is going to be the primary challenge for all growing sectors in the province’s economy, not just cybersecurity.
He says ONB is no longer concerned about its ability to create jobs in the province. It’s focused instead on making sure people are properly trained for the ones that are available.
“We’re in a position we’ve not been in before,” says Lund. “We’re not worried about our ability to attract jobs. We know what to do and we’re good at it. Our challenge now is making sure we have the people [to fill them].”