Blog
Summer hackathon highlights Alberta’s neuroscience skills
Many people may not be aware of this, but Alberta is a global leader in neuroscience — the study of the brain and brain behaviour — and, increasingly, the development of neurotechnologies, i.e. the practical applications of this science. One organization that is aware of this fact, and is doing everything in its power to […]
Cybera newsletter — Fall 2021
Cyber Summit is just days away! The annual Cyber Summit will run November 8-10. The conference will kick-off with two half-day workshops: an immersive workshop from Softchoice and AWS on leading your educational institution through its cloud journey, followed by a look at how higher education is implementing Multi-Factor Authentication. This will be followed by […]
Alberta’s public shared procurement program surpasses $30M in savings as more security offerings added
Alberta’s ShareIT public procurement program has passed the spend milestone of $50 million since it was implemented in 2017. This equates to a total estimated savings for its members of +$30 million (over their average education discount rate). This milestone comes as the program adds a variety of new firewall hardware, licensing, and services to […]
Network use jumps in 2021-22 school year
It’s hard to believe, but students are now in their third year of schooling while dealing with COVID-19. During each year – and each interruption – Cybera has seen wildly different network traffic patterns. While I do plan to write about our experience as a whole, I’ll save that for the post-new normal. For now, […]
Canada’s NREN bolsters security with MANRS
The partners in Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN) are pleased to announce today that Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security, or MANRS, has been implemented on the majority of Canada’s research and education networks. Ninety-nine per cent of organizations connected to the NREN are now connected to a MANRS-compliant network. An industry-led initiative championed […]
SniffPass boosts US infrastructure cybersecurity
Last year, we wrote about a novel security tool that Cybera’s security team had made open source. The “plaintext password sniffer,” or SniffPass, was first developed by the University of Alberta’s security team to detect and secure their institution against phishing attempts or insecure online passwords. Cybera’s security analyst made SniffPass available in Zeek, a […]
City of Calgary becomes first municipality in Alberta to offer eduroam
The City of Calgary has become only the second municipality in Canada to offer eduroam (education roaming), a global internet access service for the higher education and research sector. This means any staff or students from any eduroam-connected organization — including local post-secondary institutions as well as ones from around the world — can automatically […]
Cybera Newsletter – Summer 2021
This past 2020-21 fiscal year was a record-breaking one for Cybera, both in terms of the number of services we now offer to our expanding member community, and also the savings achieved by those services. But those savings go beyond dollars and cents. Keep reading ShareIT facilitates over $27 million in savings This past quarter (April […]
Growing our value to the community
This past 2020-21 fiscal year was a record-breaking one for Cybera, both in terms of the number of services we now offer to our expanding member community, but also the savings achieved by those services. Between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, Cybera’s combined services achieved over $16 million in gross savings for its […]
New report takes a comprehensive look at Alberta’s internet gaps and opportunities
After a year of researching, Cybera (Alberta’s not-for-profit technology accelerator) has unveiled a comprehensive update to its State of Alberta Digital Infrastructure Report. This timely analysis comes as internet connectivity and access to high-speed broadband have taken on heightened levels of importance in the province, due to COVID-19. The updated report, first published in 2014, […]
2021 Data Science Industry Fellowships help Albertans gain real-world experience and encourage local companies to adopt data science tools
Cybera’s Data Science Industry Fellowship 2021 cohort has commenced, with 19 budding data scientists paired with five Alberta-based organizations to work on an internal data project. Over the next six weeks, the emerging data scientists (Fellows) will develop a proof-of-concept tool that can be used by their industry partner to improve operations or support the […]
Industry Hackathon helps solve “digital divide” while supporting professional development
On June 4, 2021, participants from across Alberta presented unique solutions and tactics to the issue of rural internet access gaps following the month-long Bridging the Connectivity Challenge Hackathon. This event, which was spearheaded by Cybera and ISAIC, brought together more than 100 registrants to address the following objectives: Use available data to assess the […]
Federal committee suggests new ways to improve telecoms competition (and offers slight rebuke of CRTC)
On June 22, 2021, the federal Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology released its study Affordability and Accessibility of Telecommunications Services in Canada: Encouraging Competition to (Finally) Bridge the Digital Divide. The study offered recommendations for improving competition in Canada’s telecommunications industry, and also provided a rebuke for recent CRTC decisions that have caused […]
New website shines a light on Alberta’s rural connectivity gaps
Responding to the ongoing struggles faced by rural Albertans to access high-speed, affordable internet, the Alberta Rural Connectivity Coalition has unveiled a new website to offer resources and learning events for those wanting to find local solutions. The website will allow communities and networking experts to collaborate on local projects to provide internet to residents, […]
Second national procurement for web conference tool now available
Partners in the NREN award the second of two collaborative procurements to streamline web conferencing for Canadian higher ed and research institutions. Cybera, working with its National Research & Education Network (NREN) partners, is pleased to announce the second of two awards for a national web conferencing solution. This agreement with BlueJeans will see its […]