Enhancing and expanding the nation’s cyber skills at every level

On the 17th of November 2022, the Cyber Security and Data Protection Summit is taking place. This year it’ll be the 13^th annual summit, in which industry experts share their insights into how they are protecting the public sector against cyber threats from at home and abroad.

The summit brings together cyber security, data protection, technology, and business leaders across the UK government, the public sector, and highly regulated industries. Some of the key speakers include:

• Julia Lopez MP, the Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
• Phil Huggins, the National CISO for Health and Social Care at NHS England
• Simon Newman CEO of Cyber Resilience Centre for London
• Amie Alekna, Director of Security, and Information at the Ministry of Justice
• Catherine O’Keeffe, Associate Director of Cyber Security at NHS Digital

Addressing Important Cyber Security Topics

The Cyber Security and Data Protection Summit’s agenda involves case studies, expert insights, and practical takeaways from across the public sector. These are delivered during the one-day event, and it is an opportunity for like-minded peers to connect with each other, share ideas, and discover the technologies needed to secure digital assets. The day will focus on the following topics:

• Skills and Training
• Leadership and Recruitment
• Crime and Trends
• Emerging Technology
• Cyber Culture
• Supply Chain Security

Developing Cyber Security Skills

Throughout the day various speakers will address the topic of how they will tackle the skills gap, and how they will encourage future generations to learn the necessary skills to become cyber security professionals.

One of the sessions led by Julia Lopez MP, the Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport touches on ‘Measuring the Impact of the National Cyber Strategy 2022: Will it achieve all five objectives?’ The first pillar of those five objectives is strengthening the UK cyber ecosystem. The aim is to ‘enhance and expand the nation’s cyber skills at every level, including through a world-class and diverse cyber profession that inspires and equips future talent.’

Within the National Cyber Strategy 2022, the government outlined their plans to significantly increase the number of people who have the skills they need to enter the cyber workforce and ensure education and skills policy meets the demands of people and employers by 2030. This will be done through a number of measures including:

• Increasing post-16 training programmes
• Funding a range of skills boot camps in cyber security
• The national rollout of the Institutes of Technology programme
• Continuing the CyberFirst bursaries scheme for undergraduates

Some of these initiatives have already been put into place, and the government has worked extensively with professional organisations, students, employers, existing cyber security professionals and academia to better understand the nature of the cyber security skills challenge.

From 2019 to 2020, the government involved close to 57,000 young people in their CyberFirst and Cyber Discovery learning programmes. Our CyberFirst bursary programme has attracted highly motivated, talented undergraduates. Last year there were 750 students in the scheme and all 56 graduates were in full-time cybersecurity roles. This is only the start of tackling the skills shortage, as 50% of businesses still report a basic technical cyber security skills gap, therefore it is important to continue to address the issue.

Some representatives in the industry are using their platform to speak about the skills gap. Simon Newman, CEO of Cyber Resilience Centre for London will address the topic of ‘developing the talent pipeline – an innovative approach to closing the skills gap.’ Dan Patefield Head of Cyber and National Security at techUk will also be hosting a session where he will touch on the ‘biggest challenge – attracting, retaining and sharing talent.’

Finally, the summit closes with a talk on ‘The Future of Cyber,’ in which the following questions are addressed:

• Why is it important to attract younger people to the cyber profession?
• What new perspectives can younger people bring to the profession?
• How can organisations support and attract the next generation of cyber professionals?
• How can we develop and maintain a pipeline of cyber professionals to keep up with the national security demands of the future?
• Should we incorporate Digital, Data and technology and cyber education into the national curriculum? Or do you believe that apprenticeships offered by organisations are enough to cope with the demand?

Events such as this summit will continue to ask important questions and highlight the skills gap, as well as highlight what the government and industry professionals are doing in order to build a more resilient workforce. The risk of cyber-attacks and data breaches continues to increase, and as companies become more reliant on data-driven decisions, they will need to make sure they hire highly skilled cyber security professionals to build secure digital infrastructures that protect company and client data.

Find out more about the rising demand for cyber security professionals in 2022.