Government unveils bold plans to “supercharge” cyber security sector

Led by independent experts at the University of Bristol and Imperial College London’s Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance, the Cyber Growth Action Plan will examine the strengths of the UK’s cyber sector and provide a roadmap for its future growth. This will culminate with a set of recommendations later on this year for Government to map out what steps can be taken to deliver the maximum impact.

On top of this, up to £16 million in new investment has been announced in two cyber sector programmes to kick-start growth. Up to £10 million in additional funding will be invested in the CyberASAP Programme over the next four years, which will support the UK’s cutting-edge academic cyber sector to turn its research into commercial companies.

The CyberASAP Programme has already supported the creation of 34 spin-out companies, which have raised over £43 million in investment. The new funding aims to generate a further 25 spin-outs by 2030 and attract £30 million in additional investment.

In order to build on the work of the Government’s current cyber accelerator Cyber Runway, up to £6 million will be allocated to support cyber start-ups and SMEs, in turn helping firms to scale, access new markets through trade missions and strengthen the UK’s wider cyber ecosystem.

By backing researchers and entrepreneurs, these programmes will ensure the UK remains a global leader in cyber innovation and growth. This investment will unlock more jobs, support innovation and bolster Britain’s cyber security.

Economic strength, national resilience

Cyber Security Minister Feryal Clark said: “Cyber security is essential for our economic strength and national resilience. This announcement is backed by investment showing that we’re serious about making the UK a global leader in cyber innovation and protection.”

Clark continued: “Through our ‘Plan for Change’, we’re backing the sector to create high-quality jobs through the Cyber Growth Action Plan and ensuring our public services are built on secure foundations with the expert support of the Government’s Cyber Advisory Board.”

Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, stated: “This investment will help to turn innovative ideas into successful businesses up and down the country, while the new research will support our mission to grow the economy.  

Recent cyber attacks show just how important it is that we foster the development of the sector, delivering the double dividend of high-paying jobs as well as strengthening the country’s cyber security.”

National Cyber Strategy

The Cyber Growth Action Plan is due to report later this summer and will feed into the forthcoming National Cyber Strategy, ensuring the UK remains resilient and competitive in an increasingly interconnected world. This is central to the Government’s ‘Plan for Change’, aimed at driving innovation, creating high-quality jobs and securing long-term economic resilience.

The review is set to cover the supply and demand of cyber goods and services such as protective monitoring and encryption in order to understand opportunities for growth. The research will aim to spot new trends and potential areas on which to capitalise as well as explore emerging technologies (including Artificial Intelligence and Quantum) and identify opportunities to strengthen Britain’s competitive edge.

In turn, this will protect the nation’s digital economy and the new growth which is fundamental to the Government’s ‘Plan for Change’.  

Simon Shiu, Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Bristol who’s leading on the project, said: “The UK’s cyber sector is successful and growing, but so too are the challenges, as demonstrated by recent events which have affected businesses and consumers. Based on input from all parts of the cyber sector, this project will make independent recommendations to accelerate growth in cyber, but also increase cyber resilience in the other sectors critical to the UK’s security, industry and prosperity.”

Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London, observed: “The Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance at Imperial College London is uniquely placed to collaborate with the University of Bristol on this important work in what is a rapidly growing and key sector for the UK economy. This work is aligned with our ambition to help drive economic growth by boosting the UK’s innovation capacity, productivity and competitiveness.”

Cyber experts 

Senior cyber security experts from defence, big tech companies, Artificial Intelligence labs and academia, etc are advising the Government on public sector cyber security.

Cyber leaders from BAE Systems, Santander, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google DeepMind will form the new iteration of the Government’s Cyber Advisory Board, which will play a key role in supporting the Government’s goal to strengthen the public sector’s cyber resilience. This aligns with the Government’s Cyber Security Strategy and underpins the delivery of secure digital services across Government.

The cyber sector will be a key focus of the upcoming Industrial Strategy, becoming a central pillar of the Government’s ‘Plan for Change’ to kick-start growth and put more money in people’s pockets across the UK.  

Earlier this year, the Technology Secretary Peter Kyle set out his ambition for the forthcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which includes proposals to protect the UK’s supply chains, critical national services and IT service providers and suppliers. It’s expected that this will be introduced to Parliament later on this year.   

As part of the new measures, hospitals and energy suppliers are set to boost their cyber defences, protecting public services and safeguarding growth.