Data61 opens cybersecurity hub in Victoria
Data61 has opened its Cyber Security and Innovation Hub in Docklands' Goods Shed in Victoria, which will also house PhD students, cyber arms of other organisations, and include the presence of eight universities and private sector partners.
Speaking at the hub opening on Thursday, Adrian Turner, Data61 CEO said that cybersecurity is a AU$98 billion global market, expected to grow to AU$222 billion by 2020.
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"Australia's economy is undergoing transformation, with every industry becoming increasingly data driven," he said.
"Aside from bringing together our own Victorian based workforce, this new facility will also provide a dedicated space for Data61 to deepen its key relationships within the cybersecurity ecosystem, and we're excited to welcome Australia Post, Optus, and PwC as our first wave of industry partners."
The cybersecurity hub is expected to create 140 jobs, including positions for PhD students, over the next three years.
The hub will also house several other organisations including a collaboration with Oxford University's Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) and Victoria's new Oceania Cyber Security Centre (OCSC).
It was announced in December that Melbourne would be receiving the first international office of Oxford University's GCSCC, which will carry out audits of national cybersecurity risks and capabilities to help countries to plan investments and strategies to improve their digital security.
The GCSCC office will be co-located with the OCSC that is being set up with support from the state government and will bring together eight Victorian universities, the Melbourne-based Defence Science Institute, and various private sector partners.
"Oxford University is a world leader in cybersecurity policy, research, and education," Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis said previously. "Their decision to locate their first Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre international office in Melbourne is a huge vote of confidence for Victoria's tech sector."
At the time, Dalidakis said establishing an office in Victoria cemented the state's reputation as a hub for cybersecurity, with the National Broadband Network's (NBN) announcing it too was bringing its National Operations Centre to Melbourne.
"With cybercrime rising at an astonishing rate in Australia, cybersecurity has never been more crucial to our economy as it is right now," the minister said on Thursday.
"This new cybersecurity hub will help us better collaborate with the industry's best to produce products that will help protect our digital economy in the future -- and it will create more Victorian jobs."
Speaking with ZDNet last month, Dalidakis said that Data61 locating its whole cyber team division in Melbourne shows the state has a natural, organic skill set.