Plans have been unveiled to develop a new multi-million dollar global cyber security research and development facility in Sydney.
The new facility is expected to create 170 new jobs over the next five years.
NSW Minister for Innovation Matt Kean said the Government’s Jobs for NSW initiative has invested $1.67 million to support international telecommunications company BT’s first global cybersecurity R&D facility outside the United Kingdom.
“This facility is a major boost for our economy and will be a real time nerve-centre protecting large enterprises, industries, governments and even nations from cyberattack,” Mr Kean said.
“BT will also make a $2 million investment in capital infrastructure, and a further multi-million investment to employ cyber security specialists.
“This operation will help keep Australia’s best cyber security talent here in NSW and nurture our next generation of specialists to ensure we remain a regional leader in this fast growing industry.
“I’m confident job opportunities offered by BT will also act as an incentive for Australian citizens currently working overseas to come back home and bring their highly valuable skills with them.”
Cyber security specialists
Mr Kean said the facility will employ a range of highly qualified cyber security specialists.
“The areas of expertise in the new facility include cyber security, machine learning, data science analytics and visualisation, big data engineering, cloud computing, data networking, and the full life cycle of software engineering,” he said.
“BT will also bring its newly created role of Chief Global Engineer for Cyber Product Development to the facility in a further vote of confidence in NSW.”
BT Security CEO Mark Hughes said the new project would provide the company with an exciting opportunity to tap into local cyber security talent. This would help to address a major skills shortage in the UK and elsewhere.
“Never before has cyber security been more important and we see potential for growth not only in NSW and Australia, but further afield,” he said.
“This facility will be a cornerstone of our global cyber security capabilities and help us stay ahead in this fast moving space.”
