Opening Address by Mr David Koh, Chief Executive, Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, for Cybersecurity Innovation Day 11 November 2024

1.     Distinguished guests, innovators, partners, a warm welcome to Cybersecurity Innovation Day 2024.

2.     In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, innovation is pivotal to cybersecurity and to quote Ginni Rometty, former CEO of IBM, "The only way you survive is you continuously transform into something else.". Indeed, the landscape of cybersecurity is constantly shifting, new threats emerging at an unprecedented pace.

3.    Technology is a key area that needs constant innovation – and cybersecurity is no exception, and cybersecurity solutions must evolve to counter new types of attacks, as well as to leverage new tools, and techniques to adapt to these new threats in real-time. As we like to say in cybersecurity, you are not racing or competing against your business competitors; you are racing against your adversaries out there.

Key Message 1: CyberSG TIG programmes both support and sustain the innovation culture in cybersecurity

4.    Last year, we established a new national centre hosted at NUS, called the CyberSG Talent, Innovation and Growth (TIG) Collaboration Centre. This new national centre has three aims:

a.  to integrate CSA’s existing initiatives in talent and industry development.

b.  to explore new talent and innovation initiatives; and

c.  to bring together industry, end-users, investors, associations and government agencies into a specialised community for cybersecurity.

5.    Today, we see the early fruits of the CyberSG TIG Collaboration Centre. The Centre has helped to expand CSA’s national workforce development efforts, and successfully run initiatives such as the Cybersecurity Industry Call for Innovation (CyberCall), CyberBoost and CyberGrowth programmes.

6.    Under the SG Cyber Associates programme, the Centre has also worked with the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) to roll out a series of 2-day training courses to equip engineers with foundational cybersecurity skills that are relevant to their engineering work. We are also developing similar programmes for accountants, auditors, lawyers alongside their respective professional bodies.

7.    The CyberCall programme has been running for six cycles, sustaining the innovation culture in cybersecurity, and keeping defences up to date. Today, we will announce the winners of CyberCall 2023, and a total of seven companies will be receiving awards to address challenge statements from organisations such as HTX and GIC. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the 2023 awardees! You are pushing the boundaries of innovation for our sector. We saw projects that are delving into development of post quantum cryptography, and security for IP based cameras against hacks, etc. We look forward to the successful development of your solutions!

8.    We will also announce the launch of the 2024 November edition of CyberCall today. This is the first time that we have launched two CyberCalls in a single year. This edition will see a focus on Operational Technology, and the Internet of Things,OT/IoT, with a specific theme on Manufacturing.

9.    This year’s Innovation Day also expands beyond the CyberCall. CyberBoost is a series of programmes that provides tailored support for cybersecurity companies at different stages of their venture creation journeys. It helps them develop, validate, and scale their solutions into Singapore and beyond. Both local and international cybersecurity companies are welcome to participate. I encourage you to visit the booths outside later where you will be able to meet some of the recent graduates and current participants from the CyberBoost programmes.

10.    Besides the TIG Centre, CSA has also established the CyberSG R&D Programme Office (CRPO) which is hosted at Nanyang Technological University of Singapore (NTU). The CRPO seeks to position Singapore as one of the global forerunners in cybersecurity R&D and adoption. We will be announcing the awardee for the Themed and Emerging Areas Grant today and look forward to the outcome of this project in time to come.

Key Message 2: Other than programmes, end-users play an important role in sustaining innovation

11.    Innovative cybersecurity companies are critical for creating a vibrant cybersecurity sector. At the same time, our efforts would not be successful without the unwavering support of end-users. Today, we will also be showing our appreciation to the end-users who have demonstrated exceptional commitment and contribution to the cybersecurity ecosystem in Singapore. They have not just dared to think ahead by identifying areas of innovation, but they have also steadfastly walked the ups and downs of the difficult development journey with their cybersecurity solution providers, as well as provided data sets and access to live physical assets such as water plants and actual operational ships for the testing and validation of the CyberCall projects.

Key Message 3: Call to action, to be an active participant, and not remain a passive observer

12.    I hope that after today’s event, and after viewing the innovative solutions on display, you will be inspired to participate in this cybersecurity innovation ecosystem. I challenge you today to step into the arena, to become an active participant, whether you are a developer, an end-user, an investor, advisor or mentor. Your voice, your ideas, your actions, your active participation—they all have the power to make a difference to help make our cyber space more vibrant and safer.

13.    We often say cybersecurity is a team sport, and my call to all of you is to be part of the team. Each of us play a different role and can participate and contribute to a different area. Together, we will be stronger and make Singapore a safer place to live and work online.

14.    Wishing you a fruitful time for the rest of the event.