Northern Reach, the tech and innovation economic development consultancy which delivers the Lancashire Digital Hub programme for Lancashire County Council, recently held a series of B2B workshops focused on the county’s cyber sector in Chorley, Burnley and Lancaster.
Funded by Lancashire County Council, and delivered in partnership with cyber specialists Plexal, the events explored the challenges faced by SMEs interested in working within the National Cyber Force’s (NCF) supply chain, and the wider opportunities set to be offered by the emerging North West Cyber Corridor.
The workshops covered a range of topics including how the NCF’s arrival in Samlesbury will impact on the regional economy, and its intent to broaden direct engagement across a wider span of industries as it grows.
The sessions were also used to gauge what type of assistance might be required to help businesses with no prior cyber experience benefit from opportunities set to be generated by the NCF’s presence in Lancashire.
Around 60 companies took part in the events, with participants ranging from IT infrastructure specialists and software engineers, to freelance cyber consultants and tech startups.
Issues discussed included the levels of ‘cyber hygiene’ needed for SMEs to undertake potentially sensitive and confidential projects; examples of the type of specialist expertise an organisation like the NCF could require from SME suppliers; and the best way to navigate the robust procurement criteria associated with the government’s national security and defence frameworks.
Ideas regarding potential ways that SMEs might access NCF-related opportunities included formal partnerships being established between startups and established suppliers already working within the cyber, defence and security sector, and SMEs joining together to create specialist consortiums to help solve specific NCF problems.
The workshops also highlighted that holistic and unorthodox thinking maybe required to solve some of NCF’s more complex and multifaceted challenges. This is also an area where companies who were not traditional cyber security businesses could potentially add significant value to the NCF’s supply chain.
Feedback from companies involved the sessions was very positive, with businesses especially welcoming the very practical and actionable advice shared with them from an NCF perspective.
Suggestions from the businesses themselves with regards to ways smaller companies could potentially enter the NCF supply chain will now be fed back to the NCF, and will be factored into Lancashire’s overarching cyber economy growth strategy.
