TREND: The importance of geographical advantage with respect to PACS innovation

Overview: As with the tech sector in general, it is believed that certain geographical regions are advantaged in relation to PACS innovation. Having near proximity with military and defence hubs, and strong computer science/engineering capability are key credentials. For example, Silicon Valley and Maryland (near NSA HQ) are seen as advantaged areas, as are certain Israeli hubs (Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beer’ Sheva) due to strong military bases there.

While it is widely believed that PACS innovation has been more so influenced by technology transfer from military/defence hubs rather than academia – the latter has also driven certain hubs of excellence within certain PACS subdomains – for example in Europe, global excellence in cryptography has been shown particularly in the Benelux region. 

Impact: requires continued development of concentrated innovation hubs and clustering within the EU to support PACs innovation, and to reduce demand for PACs solutions developed elsewhere (US and Israel particularly). More about the importance of innovation environment is discussed in the ‘Research and Innovation’ section.

TREND: Significant shortage of skilled PACS personnel

Overview: Similar to ICT domain in general, there is a significant shortage of skilled staff in both cyber security and data analytics, the latter increasingly relevant to privacy-related technology development. This shortage affects both the technology supply and demand side, the latter needed to ensure that security technologies are procured and implemented effectively by organisations [ITB13].

Similarly, a Ponemon/Sophos study of over 2000 individuals indicated that only 26% of those surveyed felt they were adequately resourced with skilled security personnel to deal with the emerging threat landscape [PON13].

Impact: increased policy support to increase security training and education within the ICT curriculum, and for appropriate career-path support post-education.