CANARIE Issues Call to Strengthen Cybersecurity in Canada’s Research and Education Community

Up to $4.2M available to fund the Joint Security Project, supporting universities, colleges, and research institutions

Up to 160 participating organizations will benefit from strengthened cybersecurity skills

[Ottawa, ON]

CANARIE, a vital component of Canada’s digital research infrastructure (DRI) ecosystem supporting research, education and innovation, today announced a Call for Participation that will invest in Canadian universities, colleges, and research institutions that participate in the Joint Security Project (JSP). Initially piloted by 39 institutions in 2017, the project is a joint initiative with the Government of Canada and provides both technical tools and opportunities to develop cybersecurity skills across the research and education community. As security issues become more complex, the research and education community requires increasingly sophisticated approaches to protect intellectual property and private information.

Up to 160 participating organizations will benefit from strengthened cybersecurity skills among their IT staff and collaboration in a national cybersecurity strategy serving the research and education community. Through training and informal collaboration sessions, participants will learn from top security leaders and researchers within the intrusion detection community about new approaches to information security.

This call is open to universities, colleges, and research institutions connected to the twelve provincial and territorial network partners that, along with CANARIE, form Canada’s Research and Education Network (NREN). To verify if your institution is connected to the NREN, visit: canarie.ca/is-my-institution-connected

JSP participants will receive:

  • An intrusion detection system (IDS) – CANARIE will provide an IDS to institutions that did not previously receive the device in the JSP Pilot.
  • Participation funding – Participants may request $15,000 in funding support to enable a member of their technical staff to collaborate on the project. Institutions that do not indicate a need for participation funding will help enable participation from a broader group of institutions that may not otherwise have the resources to participate.
  • Training and collaboration – All participants will benefit from regular sessions with cybersecurity experts and peers from across the Canadian research and education community.
  • Access to the project’s aggregation and analysis tools – CANARIE will deploy data aggregation and visualization tools to provide both institution-level and JSP-wide cybersecurity analytics to all participants.

This current project will span one year, with the next phase of collaborative participation to be announced in 2020.

The deadline for all applications is September 9, 2019 at 4 PM ET.
Updated: the deadline is now September 27, 2019 at 4 PM ET.

Funding will be provided to eligible participants in the order that applications are received. Given that funding is limited, interested institutions are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible.

How to Apply

Detailed information on this call for participation, including timelines and eligibility criteria may be found at: canarie.ca/JSP-Call2

Information Webinars

CANARIE will host two information webinars to answer questions about the call. Please register for the webinar of your choice:

For more information, please contact:

Kathryn Anthonisen
Vice President, External Relations
CANARIE
[email protected] | 613-943-5374

About CANARIE

CANARIE strengthens Canadian leadership in science and technology by delivering digital infrastructure that supports world-class research and innovation.

CANARIE and its twelve provincial and territorial partners form Canada’s National Research and Education Network. This ultra-high-speed network connects Canada’s researchers, educators and innovators to each other and to global data, technology, and colleagues.

Beyond the network, CANARIE funds and promotes reusable research software tools and national research data management initiatives to accelerate discovery, provides identity management services to the academic community, and offers advanced networking and cloud resources to boost commercialization in Canada’s technology sector.

Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the majority of its funding provided by the Government of Canada.