Western Australia

Innovation Hub

About the Node

The Western Australian AustCyber Innovation Hub (WAACIH) was established in 2018 under the State Government’s New Industries Fund (NIF) to grow and diversify the economy and create employment in the cyber security sector. Headquartered at Edith Cowan University in the Joondalup Innovation Hub, the WAACIH is part of the AustCyber National Network of Cyber Security Innovation nodes, a series of bilateral partnerships between AustCyber and Australia’s eight State and Territory governments, which fosters and accelerates cyber capability development, innovation and commercialisation across Australia.

The WAACIH focuses principally on local (WA) capability development and challenges in order to create jobs, with commitment to national priorities as defined by AustCyber’s strategy and 2019 Sector Competitiveness Plan (SCP). A strong component of the hub’s objectives is to foster innovation through public and private collaboration. The hub engages across multiple sectors in WA including mining oil and gas; agriculture, freight and logistics, defence, and technology transfer opportunities with digitally focussed small and medium-sized enterprises.

The three themes of the hub are critical infrastructure, cybercrime and big data. Direct and indirect job growth for the state fall within the remit of the hub. The WAACIH works closely with state government, industry, business associations and academic institutions in WA. The strategic objective and implementation of the workplan is guided by an Industry Advisory Board. The board members are responsible for overseeing the strategic operations and implementation of the hub’s agreed activities.

In partnership with:

Mining
Oil and gas services
Agritech

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About the Project and Engagement Coordinator

A former high school media studies teacher, Simon Carabetta has brought his love of educating and speaking with others into his role as Project and Engagement Coordinator at the WA AustCyber Innovation Hub. A relative ‘newbie’ to the cyber security industry, Simon developed a keen interest in understanding why people fall for online scams while doing an overseas teaching stint in Dubai. It was this curiosity of social engineering and the ’human factor’ in cyber attacks that led Simon to pursue a career in this industry.

Simon was the architect behind the first employee cyber education program at Water Corporation in 2019 and it was through building his network and knowledge of the mechanisms within the cyber security industry, that he became part of the AustCyber team.

Simon has a bachelor in Communications and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education from Edith Cowan University.

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Hub Director

Cecily Rawlinson was appointed in July 2021 as Director of the WA AustCyber Innovation Hub. Cecily is a human-centred design practitioner and is passionate about using design thinking to unlock the creative potential of stakeholders and unlikely innovators. She led the CIVICUS team that facilitated the co-design and establishment of seven regional innovation hubs around the world, launching the Innovation for Change network in 2015. Working with Innovation for Change allowed Cecily to hone her innovation skills and to witness firsthand the global demand for cyber security awareness and training.

Prior to joining CIVICUS, Cecily began her career at the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and also worked at DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance.

Cecily holds a Masters in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) and a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia.