UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration

UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration

Archives for 2022

UKC3 Celebrates Successful Inaugural Year

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  • UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3) recently celebrated its first 12 months of operations.
  • UKC3’s mission is to support growth of the UK’s cyber sector by enabling cyber clusters to collaborate and deliver activity across key areas: ecosystem development, innovation and skills growth.
  • UKC3 Cyber Clusters boosted by nearly £2 million investment, over 2 years, from DCMS strengthening regional cyber ecosystems.
  • Since it was launched, UKC3 has accomplished several achievements: supporting the launch of the National Cyber Strategy 2022, creation of new clusters, development of skills, talent and job opportunities and connecting the industry.

Backed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3) has celebrated its first anniversary following the launch in May 2021. In the past 12 months, the organisation has seen the development and recognition of 12 cyber clusters across the UK, all focused on driving regional growth of the cyber ecosystem and the businesses within it.

During the last year, the number of UKC3 recognised clusters grew from seven to twelve across UK regions and nations with a further two expected to come on board in the next six months. These local clusters play a vital role in supporting local cyber businesses and connecting the UK cyber sector into a thriving ecosystem. As part of their strategy, the organisation is supporting cyber skills growth initiatives such as regional Cyber First Schools pilots, apprenticeship schemes and various direct-to-student/college projects. In addition, a number of clusters are actively involved in Cyber Runway, a programme for cyber innovation.

Over the last 12 months, UKC3, a Community Interest Company, has secured nearly £2million of investment from DCMS to fund cluster activities from May 2021 over a 24 month period, as the UK Government continues to support the growth of the UK cyber sector.  As part of this, UKC3 is playing a central role in the Government’s National Cyber Strategy 2022 to deliver on growth and strengthening the UK cyber Ecosystem.

Security minister, Minister Lopez said:

“Supporting our thriving cyber sector and its talented professionals is vital to ensuring we remain a global tech power. Our investment in UKC3’s ambitious cyber programme is boosting skills and supporting businesses to develop cutting-edge tools which can keep people safe and secure online.”

Commenting on the first year of operations, UKC3 Chair, Richard Yorke, said:

“Cyber continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK economy with the talent and capability in our regions and nations playing a pivotal role. It’s been an exciting first year; we’ve created the right foundations and are now building from them. I’m delighted with how we are working with cyber clusters across the country to support and develop their local ecosystems and put in place the conditions in which cyber start-ups and SMEs can flourish in a particularly dynamic, fast-moving industry. All businesses involved with the cyber sector can benefit from being part of their local cluster, individually and as part of the collaborative effort. It’s a good place to be.”

UKC3 will be at the industry’s leading event, InfoSec 21st-23rd June, where they will be holding a workshop for people working in the cyber sector to see how their local cluster can support them. To find your local cyber cluster, click here.

UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3) to join international cyber security leaders at CYBERUK 2022

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  • This year, UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3) will participate at CYBERUK to share knowledge and expertise about cyber clusters’ role in driving growth in the cyber sector across the UK.
  • Richard Yorke, Chair of UKC3, and Ciara Mitchell, Ecosystem Development Lead at UKC3, will deliver insights into how clusters are helping businesses to improve technical skills and work with a wide range of organisations to improve cyber skills.
  • UKC3’s team will be present on the Exhibiting floor to interact with industry leaders and engage in new collaboration avenues.

One year since its launch, UKC3 has announced its participation in the UK Government’s CYBERUK 2022 taking place 10-11 May at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Newport, Wales. Backed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and supported by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), UKC3 will represent cyber clusters in the UK, and their contribution to growing the cyber sector in their respective nations and regions.

Two of UKC3’s board will be in the spotlight at CYBERUK 2022. Ciara Mitchell, Ecosystem Development Lead at UKC3, will open the first day of CYBERUK 2022 at 8am, with a get together session, “Women in Cyber Networking”, in partnership with Women in Cyber Wales, led by Clare Johnson. The session is dedicated to women working in or hoping to work in the cyber security industry, and it will benefit from Ciara and Clare’s expertise in the cyber networking space.

Richard Yorke, Chair of UKC3Richard Yorke, Chair of UKC3, will be part of an exciting panel on Tuesday, 10 May: “Stream B: Creating a big bang – When government, education and industry collide”. The panel also includes the Deputy Director for Cyber Growth at NCSC, Chris Ensor, the CEO of IASME, Emma Philpott, the Managing Director of TryHackMe, Ben Spring, Cardiff University Professor of Data Science and Cybersecurity, Pete Burnap, and a senior representative from Naq Cyber.

Speaking about the importance of UKC3 to join this international cyber event, Richard Yorke said:
“Having the possibility to network with international leaders in the cyber security scene so close to home is a privilege. I believe this event is significant for knowledge exchange with other global cyber security actors, and cyber clusters, as well as businesses and individuals will greatly benefit from the sessions at this event.

I’m delighted to be part of the panel on ‘Creating a big bang – When government, education, and industry collide’ sharing the scene with members of NCSC, Cardiff University, and leading cyber security firms in the UK.”

UKC3 team will be available for further networking and informal discussions on the Exhibition Floor, at stand A18, where members of its formally recognised cyber clusters will also interact with the broader CYBERUK 2022 participants, sharing experience and best practices for driving innovation, skills growth and ecosystem development in the cyber sector.

About UKC3

The UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration exists to support Cyber Clusters in their mission to drive economic growth in the sector. We do this through funding and by enabling opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange, sharing of best practice, and identification of opportunities for regional and ultimately national growth.

As a national body, the UKC3 works across public, private sectors, and academia and provides a single entity for organisations wishing to engage with the UK Cyber Cluster community. There are currently 12 cyber clusters across the UK working on developing the cyber sector across three key areas: skills, innovation and ecosystem development.

A short review on UKC3 – the DCMS-backed organisation that supports cyber cluster collaboration in the UK

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Everybody wants to know what the future holds. Those who are a step ahead of the rest can foresee challenges and avoid falling into pitfalls, or they can spot opportunities and ride to success. This is as true in the cyber security landscape as it is in any other. Over the past few years, organisations across the globe have come to understand just how pervasive cyber threats are and cyber security companies need to form a collaboration network to strengthen their cyber shields. Understanding the future needs of the cyber ecosystem, UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration (UKC3) was launched to encourage greater collaboration across regions and nations of the UK.

Richard Yorke Chair of UKC3In the past 12 months, having recognised clusters in 12 regions and nations, a further two emerging clusters that are expected to be formally recognised in the next six months, UKC3 has achieved one of its key objectives to support local cyber businesses, connect the UK’s cyber sector and fuel growth in the sector.

The funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has been pivotal to this success. It’s also provided the ability to harness growth opportunities for the clusters and amplify the impact they are having. Although the UKC3 is just a year old, they have achieved a number of important outcomes in a short time.

Richard Yorke, the Chairman of UKC3, explains everything we need to know about UKC3 and the organisation’s vision and its alignment with the National Cyber Strategy.

 

Enhancing engagement of UK Cyber Cluster community

In a nutshell the role of UKC3 is to drive regional sector growth through Cyber Clusters. “We exist to support Cyber Clusters in their mission to drive economic growth in the sector. We do this through funding and by enabling opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange, sharing of best practice, and identification of opportunities for regional and ultimately national growth.” Richard commented.

As a national body, the UKC3 works across public, private sectors, and academia and provides a single entity for organisations wishing to engage with the UK Cyber Cluster community. Founded in May 2021, UKC3 is a Not for Profit, Community Interest Company by a number of cyber cluster leads from various regions and nations in the UK. The notion of a national body for UK cyber clusters came about as a result of a collaboration project between 11 cyber cluster leads and DCMS who shared a common interest in driving regional cyber sector growth and recognising the vital role that cyber clusters play.

Speaking about how UKC3 engages with clusters, Richard said “We hold monthly meetings with all cluster leads, including new and emerging clusters, at which we share information and invite guest speakers to brief on key initiatives and programmes of work in the sector.

We have three working groups covering Skills, Ecosystem Development and Innovation which bring together cluster leads with an active interest in these topics to share knowledge and experiences of related activities in their region as well as identifying opportunities for clusters to collaborate.”

Investing back into clusters by funding their projects

UK Cyber Clusters MapHaving earmarked a proportion of DCMS funding into a project fund, UKC3 focused on financing cluster projects that aim to deliver outcomes relating to these three themes:

  • Ecosystem Development: activities and initiatives that broaden and strengthen regional cyber ecosystems.
  • Innovation: activities and initiatives that support innovation and provide the conditions for high growth cyber start-ups.
  • Cyber Skill Growth: activities and initiatives focused on addressing the cyber skills gap.

To be able to get projects funded, cyber clusters need to demonstrate and meet certain criteria, in order to be recognised by the UKC3. “Working with cyber cluster leads from across the UK, we developed an agreed Operating Framework for Cyber Clusters. As part of becoming formally recognised and funded by UKC3, a Cyber Cluster must operate in line with the framework.

The framework comprises a common set of principles, objectives and outcomes that provide a clear definition of a Cluster’s remit and objectives, enabling stakeholders to better understand and support the work that Clusters do in developing and growing their local cyber ecosystem.” Richard added.

Nurturing innovation to approach Ecosystem Development

A large part of our Ecosystem Development stream is focused on cross sector engagement. With increasing digitisation, all sectors are becoming more reliant on strong cyber expertise and capability in order to innovate and operate securely.

Critical National Infrastructure sectors are a high priority (Telecoms, Finance, Healthcare, Energy, Transport etc.) as those sectors are adopting leading edge technology (AI, Quantum Computing etc.). However, UKC3 encourages cyber clusters to form strong links and partnerships with the industrial sectors that are most prevalent in their regions.

Working closely with key regional industries to identify opportunities for cross sector innovation is a way to approach Ecosystem Development. Clusters with strong links to regional Universities can promote and identify commercial opportunities linked to the world-leading cyber research that is happening across the length and breadth of the UK.

In a number of regions, cyber clusters, supported by UKC3, are working with partners on the development of Cyber Innovation Centres and accelerators programmes with the cluster playing the crucial role of convening, building and nurturing the all important ecosystem and community around this.

Addressing skills gap to achieve cluster objectives

“The skills gap is a major issue for the cyber industry as is the need for greater diversity and we very much see clusters, with their strong regional presence as being a driving force in addressing this.” Richard commented.

There are a number of cluster projects which the UKC3 have funded that bring regionally based cyber industry partners into the local education scene to help inspire the next generation of cyber professionals. UKC3 is also forming links with the UK Cyber Security Council (the voice for the profession) and other national stakeholders such as NCSC’s Cyber First and Cyber Explorers to ensure a joined up approach to skills development.

By addressing this, UKC3 has thrived in a short period of time. Richard said “I am proud to say that UKC3 has achieved formation and governance of the organisation, supported and funded cyber clusters across the UK and also established relationships with key national players in the cyber sector including the UK Cyber Security Council, TechUK, National Cyber Resilience Centre, NCSC, DCMS and DIT.”

UKC3’s vision to align with the National Cyber Strategy

With UKC3 and the clusters’ core mission of driving regional growth of the cyber sector, the challenges UKC3 is focusing on very much echo the pillars outlined in the National Cyber Strategy.

Richard commented “Under each of these we believe the clusters will play a vital role:

Pillar 1. Strengthening the UK’s Cyber Ecosystem

  • Identifying opportunities to drive growth of regionally based cyber companies
  • Driving Cyber Skills Growth and diversity initiatives within each region and nation
  • Building a dynamic cyber cluster network based on collaboration, openness and mutual support

Pillar 2. Building a resilient and prosperous digital UK

  • Enable clusters to support the growth of regionally based cyber security companies
  • Work with Cyber Resilience Centre (CRC) leadership to develop a CRC delivery model that leverages and creates opportunities for the regional cyber economy

Pillar 3. Taking the lead in the technologies vital to cyber power

  • Support growth of innovative start-ups
  • Identify opportunities for collaboration between cluster regions/nations
  • Knowledge Exchange on the development of key technologies
  • Establish and build on links to Academia

Pillar 4. Advancing UK global leadership and influence for a secure and prosperous international order

  • Establish international connections and partnerships
  • Support clusters and their members to develop export and FDI opportunities”

Cyber security is a rapidly growing sector and a key enabler of technological advancement, supporting economic growth and protecting UK plc. UKC3 has been launched to support Cyber Clusters and encourage greater cyber security collaboration across regions and nations of the UK.

To learn more about UKC3 and to update events across UKC3 clusters network or UK cyber security sector, visit here.

 

Ongoing efforts to drive cyber skills growth in the UK, coordinated by UKC3-recognised cyber clusters

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  • UKC3-recognised cyber clusters are supporting cyber skills growth in the UK through events, initiatives and joint programmes.

  • Cyber skills growth is one of UKC3’s main pillars for developing the cyber security sector in the UK.

  • Cyber clusters’ efforts to support the cyber skills growth in the UK are backed by DCMS.

An important component of the overall strategic objective of developing the UK’s cyber security sector is cyber skills growth. Through this component, UKC3 is helping organisations acquire basic or advanced technical skills. The purpose of advancing cyber skills is to prevent cyber threats that have become more prevalent in recent years. A recent report that evaluated the cyber security skills in the UK labour market found that there is a significant gap in advanced technical skills such as penetration testing, forensic analysis and security architecture or engineering.

As part of its remit to support the development of the UK’s cyber security sector, UKC3 is actively involved in cyber skills growth programmes and initiatives. Each month, UKC3-recognised cyber clusters are organising or supporting actions meant to accelerate the cyber skills growth in their respective regions. UKC3 is providing funding, enabling networking and knowledge exchange sessions. The organisation is identifying opportunities for clusters to contribute to the regional and ultimately national growth of the cyber security sector. Here is an overview of the activities carried out within UKC3-recognised cyber clusters to support the cyber skills growth.

Cyber Security Events to Support the Cyber Skills Growth

Bristol and Bath Cyber are organising monthly cyber networking meetings. On March 8th, the cluster conducted the “Second Tuesday Cyber Networking”. This event focused on understanding the cyber skills gap and the training needs in the region for 2022. A major focus of the meeting was securing future talent in the cyber sector. In addition, the event uncovered the challenges facing cyber businesses in recruiting and retaining staff in 2022. A specific topic was inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.

South West Cyber Security Cluster are holding monthly cyber security networking events, with the purpose of allowing cybersec professionals to share their knowledge and expertise with the community and unskilled cyber security individuals. The cluster also held their 15th Annual Event on March 23rd, “Secure South West 15”. The event focused, among other interesting topics, on cyber skills development. In this sense, their line-up of speakers facilitated the connection between education and industry, providing a broad perspective on the varied opportunities in cyber security.

ScotlandIS is organising various programmes meant to support cyber skills growth across their region. Their Digital Critical Friends programme pairs secondary school teachers with relevant practitioners and companies in the tech sector. Businesses of all sizes including Codify, Amazon, Virgin Money, i-confidential, Cutitronics, and Adobe have joined to help shape future curriculum and teaching methods. ScotlandIS has also contributed to the DCMS-led programme “Cyber Runway”, supporting the cyber security development in the UK.

Other clusters supporting the DCMS-led initiative Cyber Runway were Yorkshire Cyber Security Cluster, NI Cyber (Northern Ireland) and Cyber Wales. Their contribution to this programme consisted in identifying the growth actors that can support the talent development and innovation in this industry.

In the upcoming months, UKC3 and its recognised cyber clusters will continue to drive cyber skills growth through new initiatives and events at regional and national level. Some of these events include Scot-Secure 2022, Infosecurity Europe or CyberUK 2022. More details to come, follow UKC3 on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates.

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Strengthening UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration with three new UKC3 recognised clusters

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Three new cyber clusters have been recognised by UKC3: North West Cyber Security Cluster, Swindon and Wiltshire Cyber Cluster and Cyber East, strengthening the UK cyber security sector and impact. The recognition means that UKC3 will support or fund the clusters to drive active engagement in their respective communities, building relationships with regional actors and beneficiaries of cyber security programmes that they adhere to or that they organise.

North West Cyber Security Cluster

North West Cyber Security Cluster (NWCSC) is a not-for-profit community interest company (CIC), collaborating with cyber security professionals and experts within their field by providing support and networking opportunities, educating the community of business and individuals on cyber security, and working with public sector organisations to collect and share the latest cyber security information.

Swindon and Wiltshire Cyber Cluster

Swindon and Wiltshire Cyber Cluster is a group of cyber security SME’s. The Cluster aims to support its members through communicating National and International initiatives and trade opportunities. They support the UK Government’s Cyber Security Strategy and the Local Industrial Strategy by building cyber security knowledge, skills, infrastructure and capabilities to make local businesses more resilient to cyber attacks through minimising risks.

Cyber East

Cyber East acts as an inclusive, educational resource for local businesses and organisations, providing collaboration opportunities for its members, as well as up to date cyber security guidance, training, best practice exchange, networking events and support with cyber security innovations. Cyber East covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Herfordshire & Bedfordshire.

About being recognised by UKC3, Darren Chapman, Cluster Lead at Cyber East said “There is a real need for cyber security businesses to come together and collaborate on growing the sector as well as raising awareness within the business community.  Our main aim is to partner with cyber security businesses in the East of England and provide a platform for collaboration and growth within the Cyber Security industry.”

The three newly recognised clusters will be joining the other already recognised cyber clusters across the UK to support UKC3’s remit in supporting the growth of the cyber security sector in the UK through cyber skills growth, ecosystem development and innovation. UKC3 is supporting all of its recognised clusters by sharing know-how, and making funding available, where it is the case, for each cluster to be able to effectively work towards the three pillars of UKC3’s remit.

To find out more about UKC3’s recognised clusters and their mission in supporting cyber clusters and encouraging the greater collaboration across regions and nations of the UK, visit our website, or check out our LinkedIn and Twitter pages.

ScotlandIS Cyber – Cyber Start-up Project

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Scotland continues to retain and develop a strong economy and business base, a highly productive and skilled workforce, a proven track record of innovation and a “much-vaunted quality of life”. Three of Scotland’s largest cities have been recognised as amongst the UK’s top innovation hubs. Recent research has also named Edinburgh as Britain’s most innovative city outside of London, with Glasgow ranked second.

The Cyber Cluster Team at ScotlandIS continues to contribute and drive significant collaborative activity across many sectors in Scotland principally in the cyber domain. Cross sector collaboration and engagement continues to grow across all other clusters.

The team continues to work with the UK and Scottish Government statutory authorities, trade bodies and industry associations to provide holistic support to our start-up community in business development, growth initiatives, governance, commercial growth opportunities and new customer introductions.

Through UKC3 support, which funded a project to focus on cyber start-ups in Scotland we have been able to increase engagement with these companies including identifying new ones not previously engaged with the cluster. Through this work we have seen an increase in 15% of cyber start-ups we are now engaged with and able to support through the work of the cluster.

The number of Cyber Startups continues to grow with increased executive and C-suite recognition of the increased cyber threat to all businesses such as the cyber threat associated with Ukrainian geopolitical tension, the recent Log4Shell vulnerability, Conti ransomware, Kaseya, SolarWinds, and Microsoft Exchange attacks.

The start-up programme continues to deliver in cross sector networking, making introductions and connections to accelerate growth amongst many Scottish Cyber Startups, with a focus on developing and implementing a growth strategy including new and existing markets, new product development and building teams to deliver.

The discovery, recruitment and reciprocal enthusiastic engagement of new start-ups also reflect cyber industry trends of improved cyber accreditation, exercising, IR support training and preparation in both innovative service and product based technologies.

Such examples of recent integrations include

  1. the introduction of a start-up Cyber Training company to a similar start-up within the Scottish gaming industry with an aspiration to further develop their Cyber Training gamification platforms as a potential delivery product for their existing and developing client base.
  2. the introduction of a start-up cyber security Penetration testing company to a Scottish based large scale hardware, endpoint and solutions provider to enhance reciprocal business opportunities and improved cyber security with the supply chain.
  3. the introduction of a start-up cyber software solutions company to an established global app based office provider and a separate global IT consultancy service with a view to develop reciprocal business growth opportunities and enhanced security.
  4. the introduction of numerous Scottish start-ups to Entrepreneurial Scotland USA and an additional global IT and business consultancy provider, seeking business opportunities and growth to a wider international audience.
  5. practical advice and assistance to a Scottish based cyber training company in the establishment of their interactive training environment in Glasgow
  6. the introduction of numerous Scottish cyber start-ups developing trailblazing cybercrime preventative technologies to Police Scotland and UK law enforcement agencies.

The cyber cluster team also ran a Cyber start-up roundtable where we discussed the challenges facing the cyber start-ups. In partnership with the Cyber Runway we supporting the delivery of a 2-day event aimed at Scottish start-ups and SMEs. We are also continuing to find ways to showcase and raise the profile of our start-ups via case studies, promoting the Cyber Runway programme and working closely with Wavestone on their cyber start-up radar as some examples.

 

 

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