New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant has outlined plans to establish a centre of excellence for cybersecurity in New Brunswick.

The premier attended the RSA Conference 2016 in San Francisco this week to promote the province to information technology companies and security specialists. Before he left, he told the media that New Brunswick, and Fredericton in particular, is already strong in the field of cybersecurity, but more needs to be done to promote it.

“Developing a centre of excellence in cybersecurity will create jobs, protect our businesses and help us become the smart province,” said Gallant in a statement issued by his office. “This will be a great opportunity to showcase what New Brunswick has to offer.”

By attending the conference, Gallant is following up on recent efforts by his government, which include participating in the Halifax Securities Forum, meetings with IBM, aligning with the priorities of the federal government and a visit from the Israeli ambassador to Canada Rafael Barak in January.

At the conference in San Francisco, Gallant met with some of the leading figures in international IT security, including Avi Shavit, chief scientist of Israeli Cyber and Homeland Security.

Companies with operations in New Brunswick, such as Bulletproof Solutions Inc., IBM and Sentrant, and institutions like the University of New Brunswick are at the forefront of developing cybersecurity technologies, said the government.

Gallant told the media that cyber attacks each year have an economic impact of between $400 billion and $500 billion.