New Cooperation for Cybersecurity Research between Oxford University and the State Government of Victoria, Australia

Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre to play key role in new Centre of Excellence in Melbourne

The Victorian Government today signed a landmark agreement that will see Oxford University’s world leading Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) establish its first ever international regional partnership in Melbourne, in cooperation with a major new cyber security centre.

The State Government of Victoria is establishing a new cyber security facility, the Oceania Cyber Security Centre (OCSC) in Melbourne, which aims to be a key focus point for cybersecurity capacity-building. The Oxford team will work closely with the new centre, using its innovative model to measure cybersecurity capacity maturity which aims to enable nations understand what good cybersecurity looks like, in order to better plan investments and national cybersecurity strategies.

The Oceania Cyber Security Centre is being set up with support from the Victorian Government and will bring together eight Victorian universities, the Melbourne-based Defence Science Institute and major private sector partners. It will draw on Victorian universities’ world-class capabilities in cyber security and drive partnerships with leading cyber security teams operating in the state’s extensive financial services, defence, and telecommunications sectors. Hon Philip Dalidakis, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade, Victoria, said the two centres would be established in the first half of 2016 and would initially be located at Monash University’s Caulfield campus before setting up at a new office in the CBD.

“We are delighted to be part of this exciting new partnership”, said Professor Sadie Creese, Director of the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre. “Our aim is for our work to be used internationally as a common framework for effective cybersecurity, and working with key partners worldwide such as the State Government of Victoria is the only effective way to tackle this truly global issue”.

Professor Ian Goldin, Director of the Oxford Martin School, commented: “It is excellent to see the Centre working in partnership with decision-makers around the globe, and we welcome Minister Dalidakis to the Oxford Martin School today to celebrate this. Our School highlights the need for long-term solutions to global problems, and it’s pleasing to see the State Government of Victoria showing this strong leadership in the key area of cybersecurity”.

About the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre

  • The Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) is a leading international centre for research on efficient and effective cybersecurity capacity-building, promoting an increase in the scale, pace, quality and impact of cybersecurity capacity-building initiatives across the world.
  • It has created a first-of-its-kind model to measure cybersecurity capacity maturity, which aims to enable nations to self-assess, benchmark, better plan investments and national cybersecurity strategies, and set priorities for capacity development.
  • Working with key stakeholders from across the international community, the GCSCC has begun to successfully apply the model globally, undertaking consultations alongside partners such as the World Bank, the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. The application is in itself an effective capacity-building exercise for those countries that host our research, informing the thinking of those tasked with cybersecurity.
  • The GCSCC is encouraging uptake of the model by other countries and international community actors, irrespective of mandate, to allow those working in this space to have a more comprehensive picture of cybersecurity in the countries they are working in, to improve planning, avoid duplication and enable better-strategised capacity building investments.