The COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized how we work accelerating our transition to virtual rendering our economies even more vulnerable to attack. For APEC, which represents 60 percent of the world’s GDP and 48 percent of world trade, the stakes are unquestionably high. As new technologies emerge and cyber threats proliferate and rapidly evolve, protecting our businesses, critical infrastructure, connected technologies (IoT), and supply chains must be the imperative. To achieve this, we must establish a collaborative, regional approach to solve for the formidable cybersecurity challenges that will define the next phase of the digital revolution and economy.
Considering this, the 2022 ABAC Digital Working Group Cybersecurity Symposium convened experts, business leaders, and policymakers to chart a path forward to a more secure digital future across APEC.
Read our final report to APEC Economic Leaders with immediately actionable recommendations to build a cyber resilient APEC:
Chair, ABAC Digital Working Group, President and CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade
Jan De Silva is President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, one of the largest and most influential business organizations in North America. She is spearheading efforts to make Toronto one of the most competitive and sought-after business regions in the world.
Jan brings to the role more than 14 years of international CEO experience building ambitious, high-growth organizations. Anchored in her leadership is her belief in the power of economic development to lift communities.
Prior to joining the Board, she served as CEO of Sun Life Financial’s Hong Kong and Mainland China businesses and co-founded and later sold Retail China Limited. Jan also served as Dean of Ivey Asia for Ivey Business School of Western University.
Highly respected for her business advocacy and government engagement, Jan has been Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Chair of the Canada China Business Council in Beijing and served on the Board of the Asian Corporate Governance Association. In 2019, she was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to represent Canada on the APEC Business Advisory Council. Jan also sits on the boards of Intact Financial Corporation, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange; and, Blue Umbrella Limited, a global compliance technology company headquartered in Hong Kong.
Chief Trade Commissioner, Trade Commissioner Service of Canada
President and Vice-Chancellor, University of New Brunswick
Dr. Paul Mazerolle is UNB’s 19th president and vice-chancellor. An internationally recognized criminologist with degrees from the University of New Brunswick, Northeastern University and the University of Maryland, Paul is also a professor in the department of sociology at UNB.
Paul’s career has included academic leadership positions in the United States, Australia and Canada. After joining UNB in 2019, Paul implemented a comprehensive consultation process to inform UNB’s new strategic vison, UNB Toward 2030. The aspirational and transformative strategic vison was approved in 2020 and is reframing and re-positioning the university for success into the future.
Paul is fiercely dedicated to leading an institutional effort that creates a return to economic growth through innovation, entrepreneurship and social cohesion for not only UNB, but the Province of New Brunswick. Paul is a member of the New Brunswick Business Council, the New Brunswick Ministerial Economic Advisory Board, the National Advisory Research Committee for Universities Canada, the advisory board for the Wallace McCain Institute, and Chair of the Cyber Security Ecosystem in the province.
Executive Director, Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA)
Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant is currently the Executive Director of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand, a primary government agency responsible for developing, promoting, and supporting electronic transactions in Thailand. He is well-known among public sector management professionals as an expert in IT security. Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant has devoted almost two decades to raising Thailand’s cybersecurity readiness and defensive strength. His past experiences include developing computer emergency response and digital forensic capability, providing IT security consultancy services to law enforcement and legal organizations, developing security training programs for security professionals at all levels, and supporting the National Cybersecurity Committee in drafting the National Cybersecurity Framework.
During his tenure at ETDA, for example, he has represented Thailand at various international fora and helped negotiate successful collaborations and bilateral meetings at ASEAN, APT, ITU, and the UN. Additionally, he has provided his expert opinions and recommendations to other organizations on numerous occasions.
Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant received a PhD (Engineering) from the Universitaet Duisburg-Essen (Germany), an MS (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Michigan (US), and a BS (Electrical Engineering) from Rice University (US).
Co-founder and CEO, Beauceron Security
David Shipley is a co-founder and the CEO of Beauceron Security, an Atlantic Canadian scale-up that serves more than 500 clients across North America, and in Europe and Africa. Beauceron’s innovative approach to cybersecurity awareness and risk management empowers everyone within an organization to know more, and care more, about their key-role in protecting their organization from cyber attacks.
Prior to co-founding Beauceron Security, Shipley was the security lead for the University of New Brunswick and developed its incident response, threat intelligence, and awareness practice. He is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Information and Communications Studies, as well as a Master of Business Administration, from the University of New Brunswick. He frequently appears in national and regional media to talk about cybersecurity stories and events.
Shipley is a former journalist and a Canadian Forces veteran.
Director of Security, IBM Canada
Dhruva Suthar is the Director of Security, IBM Canada, responsible for IBM’s Security Software, Services and Delivery teams. Dhruva leads a team that is passionate about delivering value to clients and helping organizations, large and small, use market leading technology to protect their business from cyber threats.
Most recently Dhruva was the Chief of Staff to the General Manager of IBM Americas. Gaining a broader view of the IBM business, our clients and the marketplace.
Dhruva has led teams across IBM in Canada, the United States and Latin America throughout her 20+ year career. She has managed Sales Account Teams, Operations and Finance units. In these roles, Dhruva has not only helped transform the IBM company, but she has leveraged those experiences to help our clients transform their businesses.
Dhruva holds a Finance degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University and completed a financial analysis and business management program at the Harvard Business School.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Canada Limited
Faisal Kazi is the President and CEO of Siemens Canada. Mr. Kazi is responsible for leading the overall strategic management, direction and leadership of Siemens activities in Canada.
In addition to his role as President and CEO, Mr. Kazi is responsible for the leadership of the Smart Infrastructure business and serves as a board member of multiple Siemens affiliates in Canada.
Mr. Kazi joined Siemens in 1990 and has worked in various areas of the organization, including Siemens Energy, Industry, IT and Infrastructure businesses in Germany, The Netherlands, Brazil and the United States. In 2011, he joined Siemens Canada as the regional and sales head of the Transformers business in North and South America. He has also led the Siemens Transmission division for North America.
Mr. Kazi is on the Board of Directors for the Business Council of Canada, the Toronto Board of Trade and the Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration.
A passionate champion of Siemens Canada’s corporate
social responsibility programs, Mr. Kazi takes pride in giving back to the community.
He lives in Oakville, Ontario where he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children.
Founding Executive Director, Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Ryerson University
Charles founded the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst in 2018 with a vision to build Canada’s leading hub for cybersecurity innovation and collaboration. Charles oversees all aspects of the Catalyst’s program delivery and strategic growth. Charles has been instrumental in developing nationally unique programming in cybersecurity training, commercialization, public education and policy development.
Prior to founding the Catalyst, Charles served as chief of staff and director of policy to the Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Growth. In this role, Charles worked closely with private sector and government leaders to develop and implement the province’s strategy to make Ontario a global leader in technology innovation and commercialization.
Before joining government, Charles practiced law at BMO Capital Markets and Torys LLP, worked as a technology researcher at Forrester Research, and was a freelance business journalist for The Globe and Mail and Canadian Business Magazine.
Secretary General, Thai Banker's Association (TBA)
Kobsak Duangdee has been the Secretary General of the Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA) since January 1, 2015. He has BA in Accountancy (Banking and Finance) from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand and MBA (Finance) from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.
Kobsak has extensive experiences in finance and banking from both local and international financial institutions. He started his banking career with Siam Commercial Bank before joining Bank of Thailand. Then he spent more than 30 years with Scotiabank, Canada, leading businesses in Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Later on, he was a Board Member of Thanachart Bank and Thanachart Securities. He also represents Thailand in the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), and East Asia Business Advisory Council (EABC). In addition, he is a project leader of the ASEAN-BAC Digital Trade Connect.
Executive Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, BlackBerry Limited
As Executive Chairman and CEO of BlackBerry Limited, John Chen is responsible for defining the company’s vision and goals, setting its strategy, and ensuring the team’s execution matches corporate objectives. Appointed in November 2013, John has led BlackBerry through a successful pivot from hardware icon to software leader. Today the company is poised to leverage its brand strength and heritage in mobile security along with its enterprise cybersecurity and embedded software growth engines to accelerate into the Enterprise of Things, an emerging category with billions of connected devices and massive market potential.
John came to BlackBerry a distinguished leader and proven turnaround executive with more than 40 years of engineering and management experience along with a reputation that extends well-beyond the technology industry. Prior to joining BlackBerry, John served as Chairman and CEO of Sybase Inc. where he re-invented the company and led it through 55 consecutive quarters of profitability, providing outstanding shareholder returns during his 15-year tenure.
A global business leader with a strong interest in policy, John has testified before Congress on U.S.–China trade relations and was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush to serve on the President's Export Council. In 2006, he was appointed co-chair of the Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee. Additionally, John chaired the U.S.-China Policy Advisory Roundtable for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), served on the Board of the National Committee on U.S. China Relations since 2012, and has been a member of the Committee of 100 since 1997 and its Chairman from 2009-2011.
John graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). John has an honorary professorship from Shanghai University, and honorary doctorates from San Jose State University, City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. John has received awards from the U.S.-Asia Institute, the U.S.-China Policy Foundation, the California-Asia Business Council, and the U.S.-Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation.
John served on the Board of Directors for The Walt Disney Company (2004-2019) and Wells Fargo & Co. (2006-2018). John is an Advisory Board member of the US Chamber China Center. He is also active in the not-for-profit community, and is a trustee of Caltech, board member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, member of CFR, national trustee of The First Tee and Governor of the San Francisco Symphony.
ABAC Canada & Blackberry Board of Directors; Senior Partner, TPG Capital
VP, Government and Public Policy, Google Asia Pacific
National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada
IT Security Manager, Ballard Power Systems
Mani Keerthi Nagothu is a cybersecurity professional with global work experience in Cybersecurity Strategy, Incident response, risk management, and security training and awareness and building security initiatives. She started a podcast on LinkedIn named: “A Thought in Cyber” season 1. The podcast focuses on specific topics related to Cybersecurity including leadership, Emerging Technology, and Emotional Intelligence
For more than 35 years Stuart McNish has been involved in video journalism and storytelling.
Oh Boy Productions, his video and television studio produces shows, corporate videos and live on-line events.
Stuart has won numerous awards for his work in television news and for the past 7 years he has hosted Conversations That Matter which airs on television stations, online on Postmedia websites across Canada and on numerous platforms around the world.
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Jan De Silva
Creating centres of excellence to meet to meet the cybersecurity challenge – the case of the New Brunswick.
David Shipley
Dhruva Suthar
Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle
Stuart McNish
Sara Wilshaw
What could a collaborative regional approach to securing APEC’s digital future look like? Why does this matter?
Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant
Faisal Kazi
John Weigelt
Mani Keerthi Nagothu
Break
How can APEC secure a competitive advantage in the global competition for cyber talent?
Charles Finlay
Michaela Browning
Stuart McNish
John Chen
Tim Dattels
Wrap-Up and Next Steps
Jan De Silva
Kobsak Duangdee
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