Cork university at the forefront of developing skills to fight cybercrime

Munster Technological University’s Cyber Innovate initiative to produce cyber security innovation graduates with the skills to develop solutions to the ever growing threat of cybercrime

Chair of cybersecurity at MTU Dr Donna O'Shea speaking at Cyber Ireland national conference at the Clayton Hotel, Cork. Picture: Darragh Kane

Ireland’s cyber security sector continues to grow, with the possibility of becoming one of the major job generators of the future. 

Having already established itself as a billion euro business employing over 7,300 people, the sector has created a secure commercial foundation of over 170 cyber security companies and an additional 500 cyber-related enterprises already generating more than €2.1bn. 

The sector is worth €1.1bn in gross value-added goods and services to the Irish economy, with the median cyber security salary currently at €75,000.

The recent €7m Enterprise Ireland investment in Munster Technological University’s Cyber Innovate initiative is geared to further boost cyber innovation and entrepreneurship over the next six years. 

Designed to spur new company formations and increased job creation in the sector, it will foster a stream of cyber security innovation graduates to strengthen and enhance the country’s reputation as a global player in cyber security innovation. 

Each year, the Cyber Innovate programme will provide up to 15 participants with the necessary skills to evaluate, select and validate ideas for new products and services which will contribute to the creation of new cyber security start-ups and university spin-outs nationally.

Industry needs

Grounded toward industry needs and backed by academic rigour from MTU, the initiative will run over six years with each intake working over 10 months to identify problems and develop real-world cyber security solutions. 

The Cyber Innovate initiative represents more than an investment in MTU as a globally competitive university, according to Dr Donna O’Shea, chair of cybersecurity at MTU. 

“We are thrilled with the remarkable level of interest in Cyber Innovate so far, it is far beyond what we actually expected. We are looking for high-calibre individuals from a range of disciplines, and the type of applicants applying ranges from graduates to mid-level professionals to individuals at advanced career stages. 

Ultimately, cyber security is an interdisciplinary science trying to solve complex problems and we need to form teams that are also interdisciplinary in nature. 

The realisation of the Cyber Innovate initiative will see graduates delivering innovative commercial solutions that will address security needs for key sectors such as smart manufacturing, while boosting Ireland's cyber security industry revenue.

Participants will work with researchers in MTU and other universities to develop their solutions with support from Enterprise Ireland commercialisation funds, aimed at fostering the graduation of an annual group with cyber security innovation expertise, many of whom will create their own start-ups. 

Tax-free stipend

Individuals will be supported with a tax-free €38,000 stipend and will graduate with a postgraduate diploma in cyber security innovation. 

The investment is part of the €28m Innovator’s Initiative co-funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund.

A recent report by Cyber Ireland revealed an opportunity to position Ireland as a global leader in cyber security and to grow the workforce to more than 17,000 by 2030. 

The sector is expanding rapidly, with indigenous Irish cyber security start-ups having seen investments of more than €129m over the past five years. In 2023 alone, more than €7.3bn has been invested globally in cyber security companies. 

"Cyber security has really come to the forefront of peoples’ minds over recent years, particularly after the HSE attack. The consciousness of cyber security has been raised across all society as these attacks become more evident."

Cyber security as a career option has traditionally been strong in Cork, as evidenced through the strong cluster of companies based in the area. 

Cork has nearly all of the top 10 global cyber security companies, because we have always had a long-standing tradition of servicing the needs of the industry here as seen by the organic cluster of those firms in the region.

The demand for cyber security skills has continually increased over the past four years, with a trebling of job roles advertised between 2019 and 2022, up from 2,000 jobs advertised to 6,700 open roles. 

10,000 additional jobs

On a growth trajectory of 10%, the sector anticipates the creation of well over 10,000 additional jobs by 2030. 

In addition, the Cyber Skills project, where MTU works with key industry partners, including Technological University Dublin, University College Dublin and University of Limerick, will address their specific skills needs through flexible modes of online delivery.

Cyber Ireland, uniting over 160 member organisations, including start-ups, SMEs, multinational corporations, and educational institutions, recently launched a comprehensive strategy aimed at driving the growth of Ireland's cyber security sector by 2030. 

Primed to capitalise on established strengths and competitive advantages to develop as a leading cyber security sector in Europe, the new strategy has four focus areas across building the community, driving business growth, developing the workforce, and advocacy and promotion.

“At the moment, we have approximately 7,500 people working in the cyber security industry in Ireland, and that figure is really just the companies that develop cyber security products and services,” says Dr O’Shea. 

'Very valuable industry'

“It does not include cyber security individuals that are employed within financial services or smart manufacturing. Our cyber security industry actually contributes 1% of our GDP to our national economy, and is clearly a very valuable industry for Ireland and one that we need to support and grow into the future.” 

The particular importance of MTU’s Cyber Innovate initiative is because of the need to develop cyber security innovation at the intersection between IT, operational technology and internet Of things.

“The reason we are looking at these technologies is because they are used for making advances in digitalisation across key sectors of our economy, such as smart manufacturing, financial services and utilities. 

"What Cyber Innovate will do is develop new cyber security products, services and solutions that will support and protect those key economy sectors. While cyber security is an industry all by itself, its application and essential remit in supporting other industries demonstrates its much wider importance and potential across the entire national economy.” 

As the rate of Ireland’s digitalisation continues to increase, so too do the risks. With the cost of cybercrime for Irish businesses having increased from €3.5bn in 2019 to €10bn in 2022, it tallies well with the World Economic Forum’s definition of cybercrime as one of its "highest likelihood risks over the next 10 years". 

Dr O’Shea concludes: “The challenge and opportunity for the future is to ensure that Ireland has the capacity and capability to develop research, development and innovation solutions that deal with the increasingly complex and expanding threat landscape that is a consequence of digitalisation.”