Modernizing Canada's Defence Industrial Base

The DIB and its modernization

The defence industrial base (or DIB, for short) in the United States is well documented and well defended. Down south, the National Security Agency (NSA) has discussed openly on modernizing the DIB to defend against cyber threats, through their Cybersecurity Collaboration Center.

The National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Speaker Series raises awareness on emerging cyber issues.

An example of this sector modernization has involved moving toward a zero-trust architecture and mindset. Rather than a classical approach of defining a perimeters of a network and monitoring entry and exit points, zero-trust aims to continously verify users’ identities and credentials, and in effect serve as a more holistic, individual oriented approach to securing networks.

This approach has clear advantages over legacy methods and is a far better model for security in the 21st century. Microsoft even issued a report in 2019 warning that “Traditional perimeter-based network defense is obsolete—transform to a Zero Trust model”.

Canada’s DIB

The Goldberg Computer Science Building at Dalhousie University.

Canada does have a DIB, however it is far more loosely defined and less integrated than its American counterpart. In fact, Canada has developed an unsightly reputation for lacking effective management and investment in niche capabilities, as described in a Canadian Forces College report.

Canada’s defence industry has proven resistant to specialization and modernization, and is in my view, a result of trade protectionist policy which has generally proven reluctant towards partnerships with other nations’ collaboration centers and cyber units.

The Canadian Global Affairs Institute outlines this growing trade protectionism in a podcast, and I also think it’s evident that for the modernization of Canada’s DIB to succeed, partnerships are paramount.

Conclusion

The State of Defence Spring 2022 report is accessible here.

Canada’s DIB is in desperate need of progressive change, and our allies around the world are partnering (as South Korea and the U.S. Cyber Command have recently done) in order to rapidly modernize their defence industries, bring young talent and renew operations. I think it’s clear that Canada should follow.

What do you think? Reach out to me on Twitter if you have any thoughts to share!

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of any organization.