With less than a year to go until the arrival of the National Cyber Force (NCF) in Samlesbury, Lancashire County Council (LCC) has stepped up its engagement activity with both local and national technology companies via a series of workshops focused on Lancashire’s growing cyber economy and the wider North West Cyber Corridor.
Delivered by LCC in partnership with Plexal, an innovation company solving society’s challenges through collaboration with government, startups, industry and academia, over 160 industry organisations have taken part in the events hosted at locations across Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
Reflecting the broad and diverse nature of the cyber supply chain, global technology, telecoms and defence firms have participated in the sessions alongside SMEs, specialist suppliers and leading cyber industry experts.
Academics from Edge Hill University, Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Manchester have also contributed, as have staff from NCF, GCHQ, Innovate Lancashire, AMRC North West, and Make UK.
Working in blended groups, delegates were tasked with capturing and mapping the wide range of commercial, academic and workforce opportunities which will be created by more cyber-led economic growth across Lancashire.
Digital skills and new career pathways, sector convergence, and more agile approaches to collaborative working between different partners, were also explored.
The potential opportunities set to be unlocked by the North West Cyber Corridor was another key theme highlighted through the engagement programme.
The North West Cyber Corridor is a growing cluster of cyber businesses; specialist centres of excellence; governmental agencies; digital innovation hubs; hi-tech co-working spaces; and critical infrastructure providers, which are based in and around the North West.
The workshops were also used to share more details of Lancashire’s proposed £12m innovation and technology hub, a new development which – if brought forward – will complement existing academic and industrial R&D assets already sited across the county.
ENDS
