STRENGTHENING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE CPI COMMUNITY
CPI has responded to the expressed wishes of its membership by implementing the following initiatives to increase the sense of community and to continue to build relationships within the CPI and UWaterloo communities, as well as with external partners. These relationships create greater opportunities for interdisciplinary research projects, promote cybersecurity and privacy awareness, and elevate our engagement with governmental and industry partners.
FACULTY
CPI has instituted recurring and consistent feedback from our faculty members to stay responsive to their suggestions. The following initiatives reflect CPI’s efforts to be proactive and receptive in building our community.
/5
PULSE CHECK SURVEY
‘Has CPI helped/informed/spotlighted you or your research on a scale of 1 to 5’
Behind the Firewall
CPI has begun a new communications initiative called “Behind the Firewall”- a professional quality video series highlighting CPI member’s research and partnerships. Audiences with only a general or cursory understanding of applied technology and its relation to cybersecurity and privacy are targeted in this series.
CPI SPOTLIGHT SERIES
Plinio Morita
A Discussion on Interdisciplinarity & Research in Population Health Surveillance
Gautam Kamath
Exploring Trust, Privacy, and Security in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and AI
CPI has coordinated research and additional engagement opportunities with other UWaterloo institutes/centres and units as part of our commitment to build community and promote interdisciplinarity to address complex research questions through cooperation and diversity:
A joint interdisciplinary seed grant call
A joint interdisciplinary seed grant call
Consistent discussions and planning for collaborative student events
Building opportunities for professional upskilling
STUDENTS
CPI recognizes that supporting students is paramount. For the first time, in the 2022-23 academic year, CPI has created a student membership and parallel initiatives geared to students for the benefit of that community.
CPI is committed to addressing the cybersecurity and privacy talent gap, as well as continuing to support UWaterloo students. In 2023, we launched the new Undergraduate Award program (based on the experience gained by running a pilot program in 2022). Courses for the Undergraduate award are carefully selected based on the course content and consultation with the instructors. Courses must have significant cybersecurity and privacy aspects as part of their curriculum. This aligns with CPI’s mission to address the cybersecurity/privacy talent gap by fostering student enrolment in cybersecurity/privacy courses and encouraging more students to consider future careers in cybersecurity/privacy. We also continue our CPI Excellence Graduate Scholarship. Both of these are funded by CPI’s industry supporters.
CPI STUDENT MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
- Student Advisory committee to provide feedback on matters of interest to students, with representatives from 9 departments
- Monthly Student Newsletter: Digital OverGround featuring student input from both UWaterloo and external student communities
- CPI Student Membership: 60 students
TOTAL FINANCIAL AWARDS - SCHOLARSHIPS AND POSTER AWARDS
- CPI continues to create opportunities for CPI Student Members and UWaterloo students to engage with a wide range of events, including:
- Promoting hackathons and student design competitions (for skill development)
- Creating volunteer opportunities (ICTC, camps, community-building, etc.)
- Fostering mentoring opportunities (CPI students being mentored by faculty or professionals, or CPI students mentoring other students)
INCREASE IN SOCIAL FOLLOWERS
Public
Knowledge Mobilization and connection to the external cybersecurity and privacy community is key to advancing CPI’s brand recognition as Canada’s leading cybersecurity and privacy research institute. Further, sharing our insights and technologies will position CPI as the leaders in cybersecurity and privacy for industry partnerships and government policy.
CPI hired a Communications Manager this year, which has significantly bolstered the outreach and visibility of CPI and its researchers. This addition to our team has resulted in increased social media presence and provided opportunities for storytelling through written articles and video content.
Communications and Media Strategy
CPI's social and creative content strategy focuses on creating connections, awareness, and engagement with cybersecurity and privacy professionals, enthusiasts, partners, and the public. The first step was disseminating a revamped and consistent newsletter, “The Privacy Perspective.” It was designed to be distributed monthly and provide CPI-related news, articles, events, external events, and trending news stories across the web relating to cybersecurity and privacy. CPI's efforts resulted in a 221% increase in subscribers (512 to 1,646), which correlates directly to perceived higher value and quality of content for cybersecurity and privacy professionals.
These professionals are active on various social networks and CPI focused its efforts on LinkedIn and X (formerly known as Twitter). LinkedIn provided a unique opportunity for CPI with its professional focus, increased networking opportunities, and global reach. It is an ideal platform to share thought leadership content, CPI written articles, and research developments - all of which position CPI as a knowledgeable and respected authority. CPI's increased followers (691% since September 2022) and engagement on LinkedIn resulted from direct efforts to consistently share relevant and high-quality content that resonates with a professional and engaged audience of cybersecurity professionals. A similar approach was taken on X (formerly known as Twitter), which increased followers by 50.3% and impressions by 199.9% since September 2022.
Creative Content Strategy
§ Increasing CPI's share of voice required creating original and compelling digital storytelling content in video and written articles. Articles called “CPI Spotlights” profile CPI member research and personal journeys. In 2023 alone, seven CPI members have been profiled in compelling and personal stories. The CPI Spotlight series will continue to be a staple in our storytelling strategy, providing a balance of interesting, authoritative, and educational digital content. A new video series, “Behind the Firewall”, looks closely at CPI member research and its real-world impact. These types of content provide a look inside CPI and the people who make this a unique and world-renowned research institute. Our creative communications strategy is well-positioned to present CPI as an authoritative voice in cybersecurity and privacy.