TORONTO, November 26, 2020 – At the speed that digital transformation is happening worldwide, organizations of all sizes have been affected by the sudden surge of new technologies. The need for organizations to deploy measures to secure their digital infrastructure while attending to a multitude of cyber threats has created a rising demand for cybersecurity professionals. While information-security jobs are not new in the industry – the issue is that everyone is hiring at the same time.
In Canada, public and private sector organizations are faced with cyber skills and talent shortages to catch up to the pace at which emerging technologies and evolving cyber threats are growing. Cybercriminals are getting more creative and sophisticated – the talent gap and outdated skills in cybersecurity could put organizations at risk of cyberattacks that can lead to serious damages and consequences.
To that effect, the CIO Strategy Council and EC-Council Canada announced today a partnership to address the cyber skills and talent gap in Canada. This partnership aims to advance cybersecurity knowledge, expertise and collaboration among public, private and not-for-profit organizations across all sectors of the economy.
In a report from the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), the demand for cybersecurity professionals in Canada continues to grow by seven per cent every year and it is estimated to reach 100 000 cybersecurity professionals needed in the workforce by 2023.
“Canada is blessed with highly skilled talent and innovative companies, but we need to provide them with the necessary tools, knowledge and resources to enable and safeguard their prosperous future” said Keith Jansa, Executive Director of the CIO Strategy Council. “We look forward to our partnership with EC-Council Canada in addressing and closing the cybersecurity talent gap in Canada”.
“According to the report from Deloitte and Toronto Financial Services Alliances, Canadian executives view the cybersecurity talent shortage as one of the top five challenges to managing cybersecurity within their organization. A key reason for the skill shortage is the lack of defined career paths in cybersecurity and lack of learning and development opportunities,” said Danish Arshad, Executive Director of EC-Council North America. “We are thrilled to partner with the CIO Strategy Council and excited to work together to contribute to bridging the Cyber skill gap in Canada.”
This partnership invests in the implementation of the National Blueprint for Digital Enablement, which highlights a series of actionable measures and provides strategic guidance to help facilitate secure, trusted access to digital products, services and data.
About CIO Strategy Council
The CIO Strategy Council provides a forum for Canada’s most forward-thinking chief information officers to focus on collectively transforming, shaping, and influencing the Canadian information and technology ecosystem. The Council has deployed a nationally accredited, agile, and consensus-based standards-setting process that matches the speed of innovation and advancement in information and communications technology (ICT). Learn more at ciostrategycouncil.com
About EC-Council
EC-Council’s sole purpose is to build and refine the cybersecurity profession globally. We help individuals, organizations, educators, and governments address global workforce problems through the development and curation of world-class cybersecurity education programs and their corresponding certifications and provide cybersecurity services to some of the largest businesses globally.
Trusted by 7 of the Fortune 10, 47 of the Fortune 100, the US Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, NATO, and over 2000 of the best Universities, Colleges, and Training Companies, our programs have proliferated through more than 140 Countries and have set the bar in cybersecurity education. Best known for the Certified Ethical Hacker program, we are dedicated to equipping over 230,000 information age soldiers with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to fight and win against the black hat adversaries. Learn more at www.eccouncil.org
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For media inquiries:
Megan Ip
Senior Communications Manager
CIO Strategy Council
www.ciostrategycouncil.com