Within the first year of Donovan's career, now 25 years ago, he was deploying network infrastructure and domain controllers that would support a plant-wide historian going into a polyethylene plant in the Middle East in the year 2000. His job for the following decades was to design plant control networks, protect them from the business environment, perform cybersecurity audits, and integrate all of the infrastructure needed for remote access, firewalls, patching, vulnerability scanning, backups, authentication, NERC CIP compliance, and more.

Growing up in the startup culture of Matrikon in the 2000s, Donovan helped grow their ICS/OT consulting services from the ground-up. Catalyst within a team of 2 people, he personally mentored and trained dozens of consultants that would be responsible for safely assessing and integrating cybersecurity into mission-critical environments.

Years later, after acquisition by Honeywell, Donovan continued developing their cyber consulting team. He spent over 17 years leading their Consulting Services as their principal consultant, NERC CIP expert, IEC 62443 expert, project manager, team supervisor, matrix manager, team trainer, as well as technical sales. His most sought after skill is the ground-up development of global ICS/OT cybersecurity programs, across a fleet of operating facilities, helping improve security and maturity incrementally in a multi-year cybersecurity journey. His largest project was 12 thermal power plants at once, and leading a team of 30 people.

Donovan has had the opportunity to assess, audit, design, and integrate cybersecurity solutions into ICS/OT systems across a wide variety of industries including Utilities, Manufacturing, Hyperscale Datacenters, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Forestry, Wood Products, Mining, and others.

Donovan has given back to ICS/OT security as ISA-99/62443 author/contributor/trainer, Vice-Chair for Department Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems Joint Working Group (ICSJWG) Steering Team (IST); Public Safety Canada ICS Security Symposium Advisory Committee member; Industry advisor to Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) building their ICS/OT cybersecurity curriculums, workforce advisor for Singapore Cyber Security Agency (CSA) building their OT Cybersecurity Competency Framework (OTCCF), and more. He has been recognized as 10-year S4 alumni and (CS)²AI Fellow.

Donovan has a Diploma in Network Engineering and an Applied Bachelor’s Degree in Network Management from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) almost 20 years, and challenged the exam for the SANS Global Industrial Control Systems Professional (GICSP).