Tampere University and Deloitte are building a more cyber-resilient society.
As digital technology evolves and data grows exponentially, countries, societies and individuals are facing new challenges. At the same time, organisations are suffering from a significant lack of cybersecurity experts. These overlapping issues bring Tampere University and Deloitte together.
Deloitte helps to educate university students on cyber risks and cyber professions. Both parties emphasise that cyber issues involve much more than hacking and technology, and ultimately, they are about people.
Deloitte and Tampere University began collaborating a few years ago when postdoctoral researcher Bilhanan Silverajan started organising cybersecurity-themed events at the university. The events functioned as discussion forums for key cybersecurity challenges and strategies among industry partners, domain experts and researchers.
Deloitte was one of the organisations that sent speakers to the events. In collaboration with Tampere University, Deloitte provides its expertise in cybersecurity. Since then, the collaboration has extended. Now Deloitte gives guest lectures on two courses: Specialisation and The Internet of Things. Through collaboration, Tampere University gets an opportunity to show students what it means to work with cyber issues on a concrete level and what the important issues that companies are looking for their future employees to be able to address. Deloitte, on the other hand, gets an opportunity to introduce itself to much needed future interns and employees.
Bilhanan Silverajan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Tampere University, stated, ´The emphasis in the collaboration is to provide the students with information on the way cybersecurity knowledge is applied in different industries and companies. With guest lectures, we present what the companies in the field are looking for in their future employees and the different dimensions of working in the field worldwide.’
Cyber resistance is a key part of life and business in a digitalised world. Accelerating digitisation and automation bring advantages to organisations, but also make them more vulnerable to cyber threats.
Hannu Kasanen, cyber security director at Deloitte, says ‘Most nations and organisations are under constant cyber attacks. We need more talented individuals to keep up with the cyber criminals and nation state actors, now and in the future.’ Cybersecurity experts are needed in many domains and areas, which is why different backgrounds are appreciated in the field. Organisations need a mix of cyber skills to succeed; they need experts with deep technical skills but also cyber-savvy leaders and business-minded cyber strategists. Deloitte has the large ambition of making Finland a secure society. Investing in cybersecurity helps build trust among citizens, gain a competitive advantage and develop better products and services. In addition, it helps to build trust. The importance of the topic has been widely recognised and the number of students registered in the courses has more than doubled in a couple of years. The courses have also received much positive feedback from the students. ´Cyber threats are global and borderless by nature. Cross-border collaboration is a key to addressing them effectively’, Kasanen concludes.