​The Western Australian AustCyber Innovation Hub (WAACIH) was established in 2018 under the State Government’s New Industries Fund (NIF) to grow and diversify the economy and create employment in the cyber security sector. Headquartered at Edith Cowan University in the Joondalup Innovation Hub, the WAACIH is part of the AustCyber National Network of Cyber Security Innovation nodes, a series of bilateral partnerships between AustCyber and Australia’s eight State and Territory governments, which fosters and accelerates cyber capability development, innovation and commercialisation across Australia.

The WAACIH focuses principally on local (WA) capability development and challenges in order to create jobs, with commitment to national priorities as defined by AustCyber’s strategy and 2019 Sector Competitiveness Plan (SCP). A strong component of the hub’s objectives is to foster innovation through public and private collaboration. The hub engages across multiple sectors in WA including mining oil and gas; agriculture, freight and logistics, defence, and technology transfer opportunities with digitally focussed small and medium-sized enterprises.

The three themes of the hub are critical infrastructure, cybercrime and big data. Direct and indirect job growth for the state fall within the remit of the hub. The WAACIH works closely with state government, industry, business associations and academic institutions in WA. The strategic objective and implementation of the workplan is guided by an Industry Advisory Board. The board members are responsible for overseeing the strategic operations and implementation of the hub’s agreed activities.

​Dr. Ian Martinus (ACEcD)
Hub Director

Trade and investment specialist with experience in technology-related ventures across government and
industry. With a strong background in entrepreneurship and innovation, he has founded start-ups in digital
visualisation, e-commerce and online music. Crossborder economic empowerment projects for USAID, the
World Bank an AusAID include countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Africa. Commercial
experience in Japan and with Japanese joint venture companies based in Australia.

As an active member of the economic development communities of Australia and the United States, Ian has
delivered successful projects in the urban and land development sectors and co-created the Railsmart
project in WA which received an Australian Smart Cities award in 2019. As a founder of two digital start-ups and
with Tech Crunch DISRUPT pitch experience, Ian has also worked in California for Fortune 200 tech company
SAIC in the Next Generation Networks team, and for the Emerging Markets practice for Deloitte in Washington DC.

His latest role within the Australian cybersecurity ecosystem aims to drive commercial opportunities through alliance projects involving research, business and government partners. He is responsible for promoting
all the elements of sovereign cybersecurity capability with a view to partnering appropriately to build export 

Simon Carabetta
Project and Engagement Coordinator​

A former high school media studies teacher, Simon has brought his love of educating and speaking with others into his role as Project and Engagement Coordinator at the WA AustCyber Innovation Hub. A relative ‘newbie’ to the cyber security industry, Simon developed a keen interest in understanding why people fall for online scams while doing an overseas teaching stint in Dubai. It was this curiosity of social engineering and the ’human factor’ in cyber attacks that led Simon to pursue a career in this industry.

Simon was the architect behind the first employee cyber education program at Water Corporation in 2019 and it was through building his network and knowledge of the mechanisms within the cyber security industry, that he became part of the AustCyber team.

Simon has a bachelor in Communications and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education from Edith Cowan University.