Yet despite the “opportunity right under the city’s nose,” the city’s economic development efforts lag behind those of other cities that already have gotten in on what is projected to be a $120 billion global market by 2017. And while the city competes with a low cost of living, its image may not be hip enough to attract needed young talent.
“National livability and cost of living ratings often show San Antonio in a very positive light,” the study said of recruiting young talent. “To them, San Antonio is lacking many of the entertainment, nightlife and other lifestyle amenities they seek and, as such, cybersecurity employer recruitment efforts can be more challenging.”
Those are among the findings of a $100,000 study released to media Tuesday by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
John Dickson, principal at Denim Group Ltd., said sponsors wanted to go beyond the city’s already known positives and negatives. He said it’s no secret to the industry that the presence of the National Security Agency and the 24th and 25th Air Force (cyber command and electronic warfare) led to a spinoff of post-military personnel breaking into the business. Nor that the city’s current tech talent pool is too small and the city’s lack of direct flights is a black mark for attracting large companies.
“I wanted to know stuff I didn’t already know,” Dickson said. “The focus of this was really to provide actual things that we can do and could do post-study.
“We are beyond the awareness and beyond the studying stage,” he added. “We really have to put this to an effort.”
The study, which was funded by a mix of city and industry dollars, was aimed at assessing the city’s assets and studying what other cities have done to grow an industry that largely has fallen below the economic development radar. It was prepared by Prager Schneider, an economic development consulting firm, along with cybersecurity adviser Deloitte.
The chamber presented a preview of study findings during an October cybersecurity summit, during which Adm. Michael Rogers, commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, said San Antonio could expect as many as 1,000 additional cybersecurity personnel within the next three years.
“Surprisingly few locations have formalized their economic development efforts to capitalize on this critical and rapidly growing industry,” the study reads. “Those that truly stand apart have a deep industry ecosystem; a strong attachment to education and workforce advancement; dedicated programs and incentives; mobilized public and private sector teams; incubation and start-up support; and nurturing, interconnected supply chains, not to mention cybersecurity-specific promotional tools and tactics to convey what they offer.”
Study authors examined efforts to grow cybersecurity in those areas that did stand out: Atlanta; Fairfax County, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Montgomery County, Maryland; and San Diego.
What they found was that those regions had developed highly organized efforts to grow the industry, in some cases tapping into state incentives specifically designed to woo cybersecurity.
“What jumped out at me was how big and how organized they were,” Dickson said. “Central Maryland, specifically; it’s pretty damn impressive and they formalize that through incentives. We haven’t done anything like that.”
Among the study’s recommendations is adding an economic development staff person dedicated to organizing the city’s efforts to grow tech and cybersecurity.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he, Mayor Ivy Taylor and the private sector were on board to each contribute $50,000 to pay a staffer $150,000 annually.
The study also suggested naming a “cybersecurity czar” to “coordinate the growing array of city government cybersecurity needs and also act as the city government portal on commercial and defense-related cybersecurity matters,” it said.
Keenly needed is a stepped up effort to promote San Antonio to existing and emerging cybersecurity firms.
San Antonio’s “outward facing promotional efforts, scant compared to some competing locations, scarcely do justice to all that it offers and is becoming,” the study says. “San Antonio is well beyond needing to show that it is a dominant cybersecurity location and now must show why that matters to the prospective investor.”
Rene Dominguez, the city’s director of economic development, said the study “speaks to the need to really focus on these industries in a more developed way.”
“I think this is an extremely important piece,” Wolff said. “We all worked hard the last 10, 15 years to bring NSA here. They’re growing; we’ve got the 24th Air Force here; and now we’re bringing another thousand people. ... And so there’s a great opportunity to build on it.”
But one of the big positives, the study said, is that San Antonio is recognizing that it’s a nontraditional economic development opportunity: Wooing cybersecurity is not like chasing a major manufacturing plant or new aerospace tenant for Port San Antonio.
“The traditional lens by which San Antonio values economic development opportunities — quick wins, large job-generating businesses, splashy accomplishments — does not apply here. … By its very nature, operations are stealth and often intentionally secretive. Consequently, relatively little is known about this industry and those who operate in it,” the study says. “Advancing cybersecurity in an economic development sense requires a new way of operating and of valuing economic opportunity.”
Another positive is San Antonio’s educational component, including a critically acclaimed effort to recruit from the high school level through college and to develop cybersecurity degree programs at several of the city’s universities.
“Addressing cybersecurity talent needs through education and awareness building is an unyielding endeavor of San Antonio’s competitors,” the study notes.
Portions of the report that delved into a competitive analysis were withheld, Dickson said, to prevent San Antonio from tipping its hand on strategy.
Taylor in an emailed statement said the results “are totally in keeping with our adopted strategy of developing and supporting industry councils as partners in our economic development efforts.”
But she said it was “a little premature to talk about the final amount of an investment in a specific (cybersecurity) council.”
Dickson said the city needed to build on things such as the chamber-sponsored cybersecurity boot camps, which teach transitioning military cyber warriors business skills, and focus on maintaining and expanding military missions around cybersecurity.
He agreed the city needed to do a better job getting its name on the industry map.
“I don’t think we’ve done as good a job as we could in telling the story outside of our ZIP code,” he said.
©2015 the San Antonio Express-News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
