ROSE HALL, St James — Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Aubyn Hill is looking for a silver lining in the increasing frequency of cyber attacks, pointing to potential careers for Jamaicans who can help thwart those intent on wreaking havoc in the digital space. There is a need, he said, for the country to train more people in this area over the next three to five years.

“We know that around the world, and here in Jamaica in the past few months, we have had incidents that must focus our minds and say, ‘Look, this is a big area of growth and a big area of demand for people who have those skills’,” he said.

The minister was fielding questions from the media following a panel discussion on day one of the Outsource2LAC Global Digital Services Summit — Jamaica 2023 on Wednesday. The venue was the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James.

He had earlier shared his views during a panel discussion on the theme of ‘Unlocking Jamaica’s Potential: A Strategy for Knowledge-based services’.

“I know a lot of cybersecurity people are here and I am very interested that you are here because as we reskill our young people and we take them out of the STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] subjects into the cyber and into the IT space, we need to pick an area. One of them has to be cybersecurity,” stated Hill.

Apparently referencing perceptions formed because of cyber attacks, he spoke of the need to change many Jamaicans’ perception of cybersecurity.

“We want to ensure that it is channelled in a very productive way and formative manner,” he said.

Last week, news emerged that the personal information of some Government ministers, several parliamentarians, former senators, and titans of industry had been exposed in a cyber attack on boutique brokerage firm Mayberry Investments Limited. The attack was attributed to the Play Ransomware Group. Mayberry later made it clear that no ransom was paid, despite the hackers’ demands.

On Sunday, the national security ministry confirmed that a “cyber-incident” had affected access to the website of JamaicaEye, a nationwide closed-circuit security camera system. It did note, however, that neither video footage nor evidence recorded had been compromised.

During Wednesday’s panel discussion, Hill cited examples of countries that recognise the importance of cybersecurity and related issues, noting that Israel earned approximately $7 billion of inward investment in the field in 2022.

The conference at which he was speaking is the brainchild of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Integration and Trade Sector. The local staging of the event, which ended on Thursday, was organised by the Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce through Jamaica Promotions Corporation, with strong support from ConnectAmericas.

The event provided a platform for participants to exchange views on the latest trends in the global services sector and identify business opportunities for SMEs within Latin America and the Caribbean.

Now in its ninth staging, this is the first time that the O2LAC is being held in an English-speaking country within Latin America.