Blog
Data transfers and consumer privacy: Cybera’s response to Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner
Earlier this month, Cybera submitted its response to a consultation issued by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) on transfers for processing. Specifically, the OPC is reviewing how consent and accountability should apply when a “controller” of an individual’s data transfers it to a third party for “processing”. For example, online stores routinely send […]
Cybera announces new leader
After a decade of serving the digital needs of Alberta’s public sector, Robin Winsor has announced that he will be retiring from his position as President and CEO of Cybera. He will be replaced by Dr. Barb Carra, Cybera’s Chief Operating Officer, who brings over 10 years of leadership, government relations, and collaborative partnership experience […]
How Cybera is helping emerging data scientists and adding value for businesses
When you last went to Tim Hortons, you might have used their new app to get one step closer to a free coffee. The app allows consumers to digitally pay for their purchases, or redeem a coupon, in return for the chance to earn a free drink. To you, there was value in using a […]
Free data science mentorship program will help bolster Alberta businesses
Today, Cybera launched the Data Science for Albertans Industry Fellowship program. This program will help small-to-medium sized businesses tackle industry problems by pairing them with emerging data scientists who are looking for in-the-field experience. The four-week industry fellowships, which are being run with support from the Pacific Institute for Mathematical Sciences (PIMS), bring together six companies […]
The Road To 100
This week, Cybera celebrated an impressive milestone: surpassing our 100th member. This may not seem remarkable to others, but considering we began in 1994 with just two members, and a decade ago were hovering around 20 members, our exponential growth feels pretty remarkable to us. One reason for the major influx of members over the […]
Cybera’s membership grows while its internet costs shrink
This past month, Cybera marked two major milestones: its membership surpassed 100 organizations, while the set rate for bandwidth in the Internet Buying Group has been reduced from $1.75 to $1.50 per Mbps. This is the 12th price drop for the bulk buying service since its launch in 2012. Coupled with Cybera’s Peering service, the Internet Buying […]
Building a realtor recommendation tool with the help of data science
In the fiercely competitive property market, “location, location, location” is not the only factor that influences success. Having the right realtor can also make the difference between a big gain or a big loss (or a long sell time versus a short sell time). Like many other industries, real estate covers a broad range of […]
Cybera Edmonton Maintenance Notification
Cybera will be performing maintenance on its Edmonton router. Members should expect a few short duration outages (15 minutes) during the maintenance window.
Emergency network maintenance – tonight
As a follow up to today’s outage, we require an emergency maintenance window later tonight that will result in a few short duration outages as we resolve a related outstanding configuration issue.
Alberta’s public Virtual Firewall Service adds new security capabilities
The Virtual Firewall Service allows Alberta public organizations to cut down on their firewall maintenance costs by removing the need to host their own physical firewall devices. The service has now expanded to include FortiNet offerings, and is being made available to any small public institution in Alberta that is a member of Cybera. A […]
How Amii plans to build Alberta’s AI and machine learning capabilities
[This blog is adapted from a post that originally appeared on Digital Alberta in February 2019.] In 2018, after eight years with Cybera, our intrepid vice president of technology, John Shillington, stepped away from his role at our organization to pursue new adventures. John has always been on the vanguard of new ideas and digital challenges, […]
The rise of online education in Alberta (and how administrators are keeping up)
Education administrators in Alberta today face a host of challenges and responsibilities that were unheard of 20 years ago: from managing multiple learning platforms and technologies, to protecting staff and students from cyber threats and privacy intrusions. But what about the administrators at schools that have no physical buildings, but are completely online? Do they […]
An Introduction to Google Secure LDAP
More and more schools and organizations are taking advantage of sign-in tools from Microsoft Azure and Google for their authentication needs. These cloud-based services are often easier to manage than in-house systems, and don’t require any on-premise equipment. And with the increase in web services supporting logins from Google and Microsoft, there seems to be […]
The Origins of Canadian Supercomputing: The Visionary Role of Alberta
As part of Cybera’s 25th Anniversary, we will be publishing stories throughout the year looking back at the major milestones of Alberta computing. This week, we explore the early days of supercomputing in Canada, and how the University of Calgary’s investment in supercomputers helped set the stage for Compute Canada and the National Research and […]
Media Advisory: Data Science For Entrepreneurs Press Event Wednesday March 20
Experts from Cybera, Alberta’s not-for-profit technology agency, will demonstrate to media and workshop participants some foundational skills in data science (in this case, how to utilize data science, machine learning and natural language processing techniques to harvest Twitter for new business leads).