Regional representation in the new Innovation Node for Cyber Security Sweden truly is a digital nation where we are getting more connected for every day. This increases our vulnerability since our digital presence makes us more exposed to cyber attacks. In December 2020, the Research Institute of Sweden, RISE, started a national node for cyber security where East Sweden are represented by a group of companies and organisations Link22, Sectra, Knowit, Combitech, Linköping University, Prevas and Linköping Science Park.
The goal of the node is to create a favorable climate for innovation in the Swedish cyber security industry as well as contribute to a faster and more secure digitalisation of Swedish businesses and industries. Through the gathering of business, academia and the public sector the project will identify, prioritise, initiate and run research and innovation activities. Cyber attacks are always evolving and we constantly need to increase awareness and preparedness to to avoid attacks. In order to succeed, we need to collaborate.
-It´s really important to work together, educate each other and cooperate between businesses and experts, says Tina Lindgren, Information Security Consultant at Combitech, who is one of the members of the node. Magnus Sjölund, Security Consultant at Knowit, also a member of the node, agrees.
– The gathering of competence and enabling collaboration are the main reasons why we want to be a part of the node, says Magnus Sjölund who also mentions that the regional joint cyber security competence of East Swedens businesses and Linköping University is quite spectacular.
Linköping University is a major asset to the region
Linköping University is represented in the node by Professor Andrei Gurtov of IDA – The Department of Computer and Information Science, whose research covers areas such as Network Security, 5G and Internet-of-things. Conny Ljungqvist, Co-founder and CEO of the IT security company Link22, states that the university is the greatest asset of the region.
– Linköping holds great competence in cyber security, and we are proud to be a part of this business community.
An embryo to excellence
Sectra has more than 40 years of experience of innovation within secure communications and cyber security and support international clients such as the European Union and Nato with products and services. Lasse Larsson, Vice President Critical Infrastructure, represents Sectra in the new Cyber Node. He says East Sweden and Linköping in particular has a great network of researchers, companies and authorities.
-Linköping holds a critical mass of competence within security, and have the potential to become a region of excellence, says Lasse Larsson.
Lena Miranda, CEO of Linköping Science Park agrees. She states that the Science Park as a neutral arena is a perfect facilitator to gather large and small companies, academia and society on a regional arena.
– We hope to support the RISE Cyber Node from East Sweden in the best way possible. From our platform we can both support the industry of cyber security businesses as well as a wider business community that need to raise awareness and implement security solutions in their operations. During last fall Linköping Science Park have performed an educational program to support awareness among innovative SMEs in Linköping and the region.
– We have experienced a huge interest to participate, says Sofia Lundqvist, Project Manager of Linköping Science Park’s Cyber Security project, and not only from the companies that we targeted but from a wider group of corporates and public organizations. We are looking into how to scale and offer this program to a wider group of operations. We need to raise awareness about cyber security in general to be able to cope with upcoming challenges. Becoming a member of the Cyber Node and is an important step.
Or as Per Österling, Regional Manager at Prevas, puts it:
-You can work with it or don’t work with it, but we all have to cope with it. You have to be updated on cyber security in your day-to-day work.
Read more about the node here.
The node is financed by Vinnova.
