Cybersecurity meeting hopes to make San Diego big player
“Things have moved from simply gaining fame for implanting a virus to implanting viruses in order to steal that data,” stated Paul Martini of Boss Network Security.
Just ask Target and what happened to the retail giant over the Christmas holidays; the fallout from the credit card breach continues several months later. Already, San Diego's cybersecurity industry generates $1.5 billion to the local economy.
“The economic impact of that is equal to several super bowls,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. “That's how important the industry is to the city of San Diego.”
The mayor adds: the “sky's the limit”. An assessment of the local cybersecurity industry and its future just over the next twelve months projects a 13% growth in firms and an almost 28% growth in the industry workforce. Looking into the future, what's important, say the leaders, is collaboration and the promotion of San Diego as a nexus of cybersecurity expertise.
Toward that end, a public-private partnership called the “Cyber Center for Excellence” is being launched that would include the military and out would-class academic institutions. We are positioned well, but the competition is fierce.
“We have to get the word out to our graduates that this is the place to stay because the opportunities are here,” said Mark Cafferty, President of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation.
And keeping these highly-skilled jobs in San Diego, we've heard a great deal lately about Texas Governor Rick Perry and his forays into California to lure our businesses to Texas, particularly the capitol of Austin.
“Attracting talent and keeping it here can be a challenge,” said CEO Andrew Lee of ESET, leader in proactive threat protection. “But its important to recognize there are benefits here… a unique nexus with the military and the universities that really doesn't exist in other parts of the country.”
And yes, say the leaders, there is a lifestyle component to it. People want to stay here if…
“You want to come do business in California, come to San Diego,” said Faulconer. “We're going to make it easy for you to do business. We're going to have clear rules of the road and we are going to grow our economy.”
