The UK government has just announced a new Cyber Growth Action Plan to help the country’s fast growing cyber security sector. The plan is part of the “Plan for Change” and will guide how the government supports cyber jobs, new ideas, and strong defences against digital threats.
Feryal Clark, the Cyber Security Minister, said, “Cyber security is essential to our economic strength and national resilience. Today’s announcement is backed by investment showing we’re serious about making the UK a global leader in cyber innovation and protection.
“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 Cyber Advisory Board.”
The cyber sector brought in £13.2 billion last year and supports over 67,000 jobs across more than 2,100 companies. Ministers want to build on this success by turning research into real businesses and helping small cyber firms grow.
The Action Plan is being led by experts from the University of Bristol and Imperial College London. It will be used to give advice to the government about what can be done to keep the UK ahead in this field and protect the economy.
What Work Is Being Done?
The team is looking at 4 areas…
- Current data analysis to understand where the UK cyber sector is strongest and where the demand for cyber services is growing. This is called the sectoral analysis.
- How the sector fits into the UK’s Industrial Strategy and how new laws, like the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, could change things. This will help connect national plans with business growth.
- Future technologies like AI and quantum computing. The team wants to see how these tools could change jobs and security needs going forward.
- How different parts of the sector, such as government, tech companies, and universities, can work better together to keep the UK safe and strong.
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How Much Money Is Going Into This?
The government has announced up to £16 million in new funding. This includes £10 million for the CyberASAP programme, which helps university researchers turn their ideas into new companies. So far, this programme has helped create 34 new spin out companies which have already raised £43 million. The extra money is set to support another 25 new companies by 2030.
A further £6 million is being used to grow cyber startups through the Cyber Runway accelerator. This will help small businesses scale up, and reach new customers overseas, among other things.
All of this is expected to help create more jobs, bring in more investment, and improve cyber security across the country.
Simon Shiu, Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Bristol and leading the project, said, “The UK 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 to increase cyber-resilience in the other sectors critical to UK security, industry, and prosperity.”