The dominant cybersecurity industry clusters: evolution and sustainment

Erran Carmel and Edward M. Roche

Industry and Innovation, 2023, vol. 30, issue 3, 361-391

Abstract: Three mega-clusters dominate the cybersecurity industry: the San Francisco Bay Area, the Washington D.C. area and Israel. Together they are home to about half the influential cybersecurity firms; they have remained dominant since industry take-off in the 1990s. How have they remained dominant? We answer this question by synthesizing firm-level data, case studies, and interviews, compiling an extensive history of their evolution; then using a Geographic Information System to map these clusters. Applying the Menzel and Fornahl cluster lifecycle model, we find these clusters advanced into the Growth (2nd) stage but have not reached an equilibrium state. The model points to heterogeneity as key to avoiding cluster weakening through lock-in. Three vectors of heterogeneity explain how these clusters remain dominant: The absence of a de facto standard design, spatial expansion, and the ever-increasing cyber-threat landscape. Additionally, powerful anchor institutions are present in two of the three clusters.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13662716.2022.2145938 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:indinn:v:30:y:2023:i:3:p:361-391

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CIAI20

DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2022.2145938

Access Statistics for this article

Industry and Innovation is currently edited by Associate Professor Mark Lorenzen

More articles in Industry and Innovation from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().