Blackberry Centre opens in Malaysia
New Curriculum Announced
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) officially opened a world-class Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (CCoE) in Kuala Lumpur in March 2024. The new CCoE will deliver exceptional cybersecurity training and cyber threat intelligence to help Malaysia and partners in the region better prevent, deter, and respond to cyber threats facing governments and organisations in the Indo-Pacific region.
The fast-growing economy of Malaysia is a strategic choice for BlackBerry’s first CCoE in the Asia Pacific region, adding to the company’s network of existing CCoEs in America, Canada, and Europe.The Government of Canada welcomed the establishment of the CCoE and plans to work closely with BlackBerry, the Government of Malaysia and the CCoE to deliver cybersecurity capacity building assistance to Southeast Asia. This was mandated under Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
The official ceremony was officiated by Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim, Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, The Honorable Mary Ng, and BlackBerry CEO, John Giamatteo.
Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim stated at the official opening ceremony, “Being more than a facility to help train and upskill our national cyber workforce, the Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence has the potential to be an international destination to address emerging cyber threats. We can bring together Malaysian and Canadian universities, research institutions and skilled practitioners to share knowledge, threat intelligence and jointly develop methods and strategies to strengthen national and regional cyber-resilience.”
BlackBerry CEO, John Giamatteo added, “Building resilience to cyber-attacks requires a whole-of-society effort. The new Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence stands as a testament to how nations and technology leaders can work together to address the dual challenge of cybercrime and skills shortages. We thank the Governments of Malaysia and Canada, along with our industry partners, for joining us today, as we open this world-class facility and launch the BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum to support Malaysia’s goal to train a highly skilled national cybersecurity workforce to a global standard.”
New Curriculum
The new BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum is offering a wide range of globally recognized course offerings and certifications to help grow a skilled cybersecurity workforce and ecosystem in Malaysia and the region. These programs are designed to help the nation address a reported shortfall of some twelve thousand cybersecurity professionals, and advance career opportunities for men and women in the region.
The new centre will provide Malaysians and others in the region with increased opportunities for professional networking, knowledge-sharing and common skills training, covering everything from cyber fundamentals to leadership and technical areas. The CCoE curriculum offers training courses on BlackBerry® cybersecurity products and services to upskill in areas like AI and Machine Learning.
Partnership
On May 8, 2024, BlackBerry Limited further announced a new partnership that will help scale and deliver a wide range of training courses under the new BlackBerry Cybersecurity Curriculum with CompTIA courses commencing in May. CompTIA instructor-led courses will include their renowned A+, Network+, and Security+ certifications. Additional training and certifications will be released over the next few months. These certifications will equip individuals with the necessary skills and competencies to pursue challenging and enriching careers in the tech industry.
The CompTIA news follows recent education partnerships formed with SANS Institute and Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst (“the Catalyst”) at Toronto Metropolitan University, who teamed up with SANS to offer three women cyber candidates full scholarships for its CLIC (Certifications for Leadership in Cybersecurity) training program. The candidates have now been selected and commenced the course on May 9, further advancing diversity and opportunities for female cyber leaders in Malaysia.
Source: Blackberry Limited