Cyber Ireland Conference 2023

The Dectar team was delighted to attend the annual Cyber Ireland Conference in Galway, Ireland at the Galmont Hotel overlooking Galway Bay. The atmosphere at the conference was fantastic, with 158 member organizations, the conference brought together Academics, Government and Industry members of the Cyber Ireland cluster.

The event gave attendees a chance to meet, network and learn about each other’s products and projects. Over twenty fascinating speakers participated, including international panelists and industry experts speaking about IT Security, the complicated landscapes that governments are facing to protect key industries and critical infrastructure. 

Over the course of the day there was a series of interesting panels that discussed everything from Cyber Resilience, the ethics and issues associated with the emergence of AI, to the need for cyber awareness for young people. 

The conference kicked off with Cyber Ireland Cluster Manager, Eoin Byrne, speaking about the progress the cluster has had, the amazing work and research the team has done, plus the exciting plans and strategy for the future of the organization.

The Key Challenge: Recruitment

Eoin spoke about the research carried out by Cyber Ireland in 2022, looking into the cyber sector and identifying some of the key challenges facing the sector. Recruitment of people with cyber skills is proving to be a challenge not only in Ireland but globally. The cyber industry is projected to experience 15% annual growth, this problem will only become a bigger issue as we go forward and the industry continues to grow.

Ireland’s location and position- on the edge of Europe- an English speaking, EU country – makes the island an ideal place for international companies to do business. Ireland has over 7,300 people working in the cyber industry and Irish employees can demand the second highest salaries globally for people with cyber skills.

Countries worldwide are finding the demand for skilled cyber workers an issue. Cyber Ireland created a report about the Cyber Labour Market with 2/3rds of members surveyed, reporting they are having recruitment or retention issues. Globally, there is not enough people with the necessary skills to fill the expanding selection of cyber roles.

Read the Cyber Ireland report– ‘State of the Cyber Security Labour Market in Ireland‘

Going for growth

During the conference Ireland’s development agency, Enterprise Ireland, ran a series of meet the buyer workshops facilitating meetings to allow innovative Irish SME’s to meet potential customers or clients from North American companies. 

Enterprise Ireland’s support has been vital to making Cyber Ireland a success and several of the cyber cluster members are funded and supported by Enterprise Ireland.  By introducing their clients to companies that are looking to source solutions from Irish companies, EI is connecting clients to important business prospects that many companies would otherwise struggle to reach. 

Cyber Ireland has completely changed the SME landscape for cyber companies in Ireland and the team at Cyber Ireland deserve a round of applause for building the cluster and giving Irish companies a chance to be part of a collective. By working together Irish companies can build partnerships, promote indigenous products and approach global business.

Our team throughly enjoyed the conference and we look forward to working with Cyber Ireland to promote the Irish cyber ecosystem.

Interested in learning more about Dectar? Contact us to learn more about our cyber solutions