The University of British Columbia (UBC) is set to accelerate cyber security and financial risk research following a $2 million donation from Scotiabank.

Over the next five years, the Scotiabank initiative will support research and educational practices, including internships, speaker series’, engagement activities such as hackathons, and other collaborative events to better understand cyber defence.

Michael Zerbs, chief technology officer at Scotiabank, said: “Data theft costs organizations billions of dollars a year worldwide, and cause psychological and social harm for individual customers. The Scotiabank Cybersecurity and Risk Analytics Initiative at UBC will advance the industry's collective understanding of how to further protect digital assets.

“At the same time, Scotiabank's support will contribute to research and engage students to advance financial modelling to help manage risks and protect customers. We're proud to support UBC as part our digital strategy and our commitment to building talent in the digital economy.”

Santa Ono, president and vice chancellor at UBC, added: “There is an urgent need to advance our understanding of information security and financial risk management in an ever more connected, complex world. Thanks to Scotiabank's generous donation, leading UBC researchers can now deepen their knowledge and train the next generation of financial risk analysts and cybersecurity experts.”

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