Mastercard has announced a new half-billion-dollar cybersecurity and tech innovation centre in the city of Vancouver.
The project, which includes $49 million in support from the federal government, was jointly announced by the company and Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.
Mastercard is putting up $510 million for the new Global Intelligence and Cyber Centre, which it says will “accelerate innovation in digital and cyber security, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things.”
The company says the centre will create 270 new jobs. It will also roll in about 100 positions at NuData security, a Vancouver tech company Mastercard acquired in 2017.
Mastercard says it will be adding positions for software engineers, data scientists and information security experts, among other roles.
The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development says the centre will also include 100 new co-op positions.
“The centre will focus on creating technologies and standards to ensure that Canadians and others around the world can safely use any device that could be connected to the Internet—phone, tablet, computer, vehicle—without concern that their personal and financial information could be stolen,” the ministry said in a media release.
The ministry said the centre will also work with universities, government and businesses to develop new software tools to improve cybersecurity.
Mastercard says the centre will be one of six it operates around the world “and will develop cyber solutions for the payments ecosystem globally.”
The company says the centre will be located in Vancouver’s Old Stock Exchange building, the current home of NuData.
It says staff will be added from the company’s research and development, operations and technology, and cyber and intelligence divisions.