Project Atlas

Project Atlas

Project Atlas is Ireland’s first national initiative to map cybersecurity competencies based on what professionals actually know, not just their job titles or academic qualifications. Led by the Cyber Workforce Collective (CWC), a Cyber Ireland working group, this project will deliver a comprehensive view of national cybersecurity proficiency. Using a structured survey adapted from international frameworks like NIST NICE, Project Atlas will precisely measure over 100 specific competencies across technical, business, and leadership roles, providing critical, real-time data on the skills shaping Ireland’s digital future.

Why is it needed

Atlas is needed to solve a fundamental problem: Ireland currently lacks the granular, domestic data required to effectively understand its cybersecurity skills landscape. While global reports offer broad insights into international trends, they fail to provide the specific, in-depth information critical for national strategy.

The Atlas platform will fill this void by answering key questions that global data cannot, such as:
  • What specific cybersecurity competencies exist within Ireland?
  • Where are those skills located geographically across the country?
  • What are the proficiency levels of professionals in key security domains?
  • How does skilled talent move between different regions and counties?
By providing these Ireland-specific insights, Atlas will empower policymakers, educators, and industry leaders to make data-driven decisions that strengthen the national cybersecurity ecosystem, aligning the talent pipeline with current and future industry demands. Without this insight we are forced to make critical decisions in the dark. It’s time to stop guessing—and start mapping. 

Who will use it

Project Atlas

What will Atlas deliver?

Through the Atlas Competency Survey, cybersecurity professionals in Ireland will self-assess their knowledge and proficiency across key domains. The outputs will include:

  • A national heatmap of cybersecurity talent

  • Regional insights on strengths and capability gaps

  • Real-time data to guide hiring, education, and investment

  • Insights specific to Ireland, rather than generalized global analysis

This initiative will provide actionable intelligence for growing indigenous companies, attracting FDI, and strengthening Ireland’s position as a cybersecurity leader.

What Project Atlas has the potential to reveal

  • Specific competency clusters – e.g., Cork might excel in incident response, Dublin in financial services cybersecurity 

  • Skills gaps by region – which counties need development in specific domains 

  • Remote work distribution – how hybrid working has spread talent beyond traditional hubs 

Introducing Talent Magnetism Index**

The Talent Magnetism Index (TMI) is a new, data-driven metric designed to track the flow of cybersecurity professionals across Ireland. While Project Atlas maps where competencies are located, the TMI reveals where talent is actually moving—answering the critical question of whether a region is attracting or losing talent.

The index provides a single score for each county based on a simple formula: Talent Inflow minus Talent Outflow.
  • A positive score indicates a “Talent Magnet” county that attracts more professionals for work than it loses.
  • A negative score identifies a “Talent Feeder” county, a net exporter of talent to other regions.
The TMI is a crucial tool for a world dominated by remote work and hybrid models. For companies, it helps de-risk strategic decisions by revealing hidden talent pools in feeder counties, which often have a lower cost of living. For example, a firm could discover a large pool of cloud security experts living in a “feeder” county and establish an office there, providing those professionals with a powerful incentive to join while simultaneously creating a new regional tech hub.
Ultimately, by combining the TMI with the competency data from Project Atlas, stakeholders can move beyond static maps and make more informed decisions about corporate strategy, talent acquisition, and regional development.

Sustainability & Long-Term Vision ​

The Cyber Ireland talent ecosystem is built on a dynamic, data-driven approach designed to bridge the gap between skilled professionals and industry needs. Central to this is an annual survey cycle, which allows for the continuous inclusion of new talent and provides returning participants with the ability to track their professional growth. The gathered data feeds into interactive dashboards, offering stakeholders live insights for strategic planning and analysis. As the program matures, the Atlas framework could evolve into a national standard for competency mapping, ensuring consistency across the industry. This information will then be used for strategic integration, directly informing Cyber Ireland’s national strategy, foreign direct investment (FDI) engagements, and collaborative talent programs such as apprenticeships and upskilling initiatives. Ultimately, the ecosystem integrates key platforms, connecting data from the Cyber Ireland Course Finder and CI Jobs Board to create a seamless user experience that matches skills to real job opportunities and helps build a more agile, responsive, and future-ready cybersecurity workforce.

If you are a Cybersecurity professional in Ireland, working in technical, business, or leadership roles,

we want you to complete the survey here

Complete the Survey