Cybera’s 2022-25 roadmap: midway check-in

Cybera’s roadmap is the guiding light for our operations: setting a course for where we want the organization to be in three years. It also sets ambitious goals for what we would like Alberta’s digital landscape to look like in the near future and beyond.

We are now midway through our Strategic Roadmap 2022-25. Looking over the specific targets, our team is pleased with the overall progress Cybera has made.

We have begun (and even completed) over 70% of the activities listed within Cybera’s five key pillars: Network, Skills, Security, Collaboration, and Advocacy.

Where we are ahead of expectations:

  • Expand eduroam (secure internet roaming) to an additional three municipalities and seven education institutions
    • We currently connect two municipalities and 15 educational institutions, with two more educators completing their setup
  • Explore the creation of a regional Security Operations Centre in Alberta
    • This work has begun (we expect to share more details with our community this fall)
  • Grow the ShareIT catalogue of procurement offerings to 35
    • We now have 40 purchase agreements in the catalogue
  • Train 40 interns and 10 companies across Alberta in data science
    • 24 interns and six companies have gone through (or are currently participating in) our Alberta Data Science Lab
  • Train 2,000+ teachers and 32,000+ grades 5-12 students in data science / computational thinking
    • We’ve already reached 2,000 teachers, and 18,000+ students
  • Establish a catalogue of technical and IT leadership certifications for members
    • Development work has begun
  • Work with the Government of Alberta to implement a new provincial broadband strategy
    • Government broadband strategy (featuring several suggestions from Cybera) launched in 2022

You can see the full three-year roadmap and how Cybera is progressing on each target here.

While we are on course to achieve many of our goals, there are some targets that we are unlikely to meet. This is to be expected for a three-year plan, particularly one that includes such ambitious goals. 

Items we’re unlikely to carry out by 2025: 

  • Pilot a non-fibre (e.g. LEO satellite) network project
    • Supply chain logjams mixed with the faster commercial rollout of satellite networks in Canada combined to make this project less of a priority
  • Pilot and launch an open source Virtual Firewall Service offering
    • The firewall needs of our members have evolved, and we are now looking at alternative security solutions that are more relevant
  • Launch a national Cybersecurity Fellowship program
    • This was predicated on national funding approval, which has not yet been awarded
  • Launch ShareIT for K-12 governance model
    • ShareIT is now focusing on enabling K-12 to benefit from cross-sector procurement / knowledge sharing initiatives, without the heavy lift of governance
  • Launch a First Nations policy committee to focus on digital equity and inclusion needs
    • This work has largely been taken on by the newly formed Indigenous Connectivity Institute, and Cybera will instead focus on supporting this group and bringing our expertise to the table in an advisory capacity

If you have any questions about Cybera’s roadmap and the targets it has laid out — or have ideas for other ways we could fulfill those targets — we would love to hear from you! Please contact Meagan Hampel, VP, external relations, to set up a conversation.

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