Dublin, Ireland ― Dublin holds a special place in the hearts of The Readable team, primarily because it is the home of our dear friend, Cormac Callanan. During a dinner in Seoul last year—my second meeting with him and the third for Kuksung Nam, who had also met with him in Singapore—we were again in his company. Cormac, a Dublin-based cybersecurity expert whose work extends to Asia, asked if we would ever visit him in Dublin. Considering it was his third trip to South Korea to manage meetings and set agendas for the European Union-funded ESIWA project, officially known as the ‘Enhancing Security Cooperation in and with Asia’ initiative, and my total absence of visits to Ireland, I felt compelled and was more than happy to agree.
About 10 months after I had promised Cormac Callanan that we would visit, Kuksung and I finally reunited with him in Dublin three days ago. During our visit, we toured the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of Ireland, where we learned about its mission directly from Joseph Stephens, the Director of Resilience. The NCSC plays a crucial role in shaping Ireland’s national cybersecurity strategy and ensuring the country’s cyber safety. Additionally, we attended an international conference on Tuesday, organized by the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce. This event allowed us to expand our network, engaging primarily with professionals from the cybersecurity sectors of both Ireland and Germany. A presentation by Eoin Byrne, Cluster Manager at Cyber Ireland, provided invaluable insights into the current state of cybersecurity in Ireland, helping our team understand the efforts the Irish government is making to protect its digital borders.
Throughout our meetings and presentations in Dublin, we discovered that the city is a central hub for the information technology and cybersecurity industry in Europe. According to Cyber Ireland, the nation’s cybersecurity cluster, which focuses on developing a talent pipeline and advancing research and development (R&D), six of the top 10 global cybersecurity software companies have a presence in Ireland. Dublin also hosts Europe’s largest data centers, with the data stored there accounting for 25% of the European market. Additionally, I learned about initiatives to increase cyber awareness among Irish citizens. Senator Gerald Craughwell highlighted the importance of collaboration to combat cybercrime during a conference at a historic hotel in Ballsbridge, originally built as a school in 1881.
As editor, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Cormac Callanan and the wonderful Irish individuals we have met here in Dublin. Although we are departing to attend the REMIT conference in Leuven, Belgium, from May 16 to 17, this will certainly not be our last visit to this charming city, which is brimming with great spirits.
― Dain Oh, Editor-in-Chief, The Readable
