BCSC and The Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity(CIC) sign collaborative research agreement

The Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (CIC)  and Basque Cybersecurity Centre (BCSC) signed a collaboration agreement with the aim of exploring opportunities for collaborative research and training projects related to cybersecurity.

This agreement seeks to facilitate the exchange of material and resources beneficial to the educational needs of both organisations, as well as to strengthen the ties between them to carry out exploitation strategies and plans for the dissemination of the results obtained in the different projects.

This collaboration follows those already signed recently with organisations such as ECSO, aimed at boosting regional cybersecurity ecosystems; and the agreement with the Ikerlan, a technology centre oriented towards the transfer of knowledge and the contribution of competitive value to companies, with headquarters in Mondragón, and with a history dating back to 1974; Tecnalia, a Research and Technological Development Centre whose mission is to transform technology into GDP to improve people’s quality of life and create business opportunities in companies, located in San Sebastian; and Vicomtech, a centre in the city of San Sebastian, which seeks to bridge the gap between basic research and industry and specialises in digital technologies related to IA and Visual Computing & Interaction.

The Basque Cybersecurity Centre is the Public Capacity appointed by the Basque Government to promote cybersecurity in the Region of the Basque Country with the mission of promoting and developing culture and awareness on cybersecurity in the Basque society, streamlining business activities concerning cybersecurity and creating a strong professional sector. It is one area of SPRI, a public Agency ran by the Basque Government (Member State of Spain) dependent on the Department of Economic Development and Infrastructures, targeting the fields of Economic Promotion and Cybersecurity. 

This is yet another example of the BCSC’s focus on innovation on an international level, and it will serve as a gateway between the scientific and technological communities of the Basque Country and Canada. This agreement favours the promotion of our research centres and universities throughout the territory—but it is even more important if we think of it as highlighting the Basque cybersecurity ecosystem, especially with an eye on the region’s industrial sector.

UNB was founded in 1785, and it offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 60 disciplines, plus continuing education in a wide variety of fields.

Since 2000, the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity (CIC) has played an important role in the field of cybersecurity research and innovation in Canada. At present, the University has the largest research group dedicated to network security in the country via the CIC, a multidisciplinary and entrepreneurial training, research and development organisation whose knowledge base draws on the expertise of researchers from the social sciences, business, computer science, engineering, law and science in general. Hosted at the University of New Brunswick’s Fredericton campus, it is the first of its kind to bring together researchers and practitioners from across the academic spectrum, professionals who seek to share ideas on cybersecurity challenges.

One of the latest highlights of the CIC was a new edition of the Research Intensive Cyber Knowledge Studies (RICKS) programme, which took place in mid-January 2021 and offered cybersecurity students funding to access scholarships, as well as a subsequent job offer. The programme, managed by the CIC, connects students in the Master’s in Applied Cybersecurity with companies in the industry; Bell is the first private company to sponsor this programme, participating with $1.2 million over the next three years.