Belfast will host the premier cybersecurity conference CYBERUK this week.
This represents the scale of progress and ambition of the region’s cyber ecosystem, highlighting that over 100 companies with cyber security operations, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations, are based in Northern Ireland.
This is yet another milestone for the region which marks progress towards to a single, simple, ambition. That there will be 5,000 cyber security professionals in Northern Ireland by 2030.
We are getting there. Our recently published NI Cyber Security Snapshot 2023 highlights that there are now 2,700+ cyber professionals in the region supporting over £230m direct GVA to local economy. The average advertised salary in 2022 was £53,000 making it a highly attractive career for local talent.
In my 11 years at CSIT, we have consistently focused on the potential for regional economic impact. Reaching that target will demonstrate that our research and impact was strong, the education programmes and resultant talent pipeline were equipped with differentiating knowledge and capabilities that grew indigenous companies and attracted world leading Foreign Direct Investment to build a thriving ecosystem spanning sector specialisms such as
- Identification, Authentication and Access Control,
- Risk, Compliance and Fraud,
- Securing Applications, Networks & Cloud,
- Threat Intelligence, Monitoring, Detection and Analysis,
- Operational Technology (OT) Security & Connected Devices,
- Managed Security Service Provision (MSSPs) & Advisory Services
Northern Ireland has been fortunate to have forward thinking leadership in industry and the public sector that has adopted this ambition and sees the opportunity that cyber security presents. As a member of the Northern Ireland Cyber Security Steering Group, I have seen first-hand how key stakeholders are co-ordinating to deliver.
NI Cyber - A cluster of companies developing world-leading cyber security technologies is ensuring that industry is working together to share knowledge, best practice and address this global opportunity for the region’s benefit.
That effort is also vertically aligned with the UK National Cyber Strategy. There is close collaborative work with the NCSC, Northern Ireland Office, and other UK Government Departments all supporting that activity locally. That 5,000 cyber professionals target is also a UK Government Commitment in New Decade, New Approach and it has backed up that with investments announced recently.
We must not rest on our laurels, however. Geopolitical tensions mean that the threat landscape is constantly evolving. The rapid pace of innovation in areas such as large language models and Artificial General Intelligence mean those threats are scaling and evolving too. Securing AI’s themselves represents an emerging challenge.
In February 2023, CSIT secured an £18.9m investment in the region’s cyber security ecosystem, including £11 million UK Government funding through the New Deal for Northern Ireland, to help develop a pipeline of cyber security professionals in NI and provide collaborative research and development opportunities with industry through the creation of a Cyber-AI Hub.
This is also supported by £3.3m of funding from the EPSRC, to deliver the third phase of CSIT’s IKC programme, focused on “Securing Complex Systems” cementing its position as a world-leading centre for research and innovation until 2027. CSIT is located in Queen’s Global Innovation Institute which has also just secured significant expansion funding from the Belfast Region City Deal.
I am delighted that CYBERUK 2023 is hosted in our home city of Belfast this year. This event is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the cyber security ecosystem in Northern Ireland, to engage with global partners, and to promote knowledge sharing in this area of strategic national importance.
P.S. We're also looking for ECIT Engineers at the graduate entry level to help develop the Cyber AI Hub, with a deadline of May 8th. Don't let this great opportunity pass you by. Apply Now