First Minister announces £9.5m hub to make Wales ‘global leader’ in cyber security

The First Minister has announced a £3m investment in a new Cyber Innovation Hub that he says will help Wales become a global leader in the sector.

£3m of co-funding will also come from the Cardiff Capital Region and £3.5m of in-kind match funding from consortium partners.

The First Minister made the announcement during the first day of the UK’s flagship cyber security conference, CyberUK 2022, which is being held in Newport this week.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The Welsh Government is proud to co-fund Cyber Innovation Hub’s mission to transform Cardiff Capital Region into one of the UK’s leading cyber clusters by 2030.

“The pandemic has highlighted just how important cyber innovation is in supporting and protecting information-sharing whilst offering data and insight to help keep the region moving and growing.”

‘Jobs and growth’

The new Cyber Innovation Hub is being led by Cardiff University with partners including Airbus, Alacrity Cyber, CGI, Thales NDEC, Tramshed Tech, and the University of South Wales.

The Innovation Hub will aim to train more than 1,000 cyber-skilled individuals and grow the cyber security sector in Wales by more than 50% by 2030.

There are 51 cyber-related businesses based in Wales, employing 4% of cyber security professionals based in the UK.

The stated aim is to bring industry, government and academic partners together to grow the Welsh cybersecurity sector, enabling Wales to take advantage of the anticipated growth of the sector by investing in a coordinated approach to skills, innovation and new enterprise creation.

By 2030, the Hub aims to have:

• Grown the cyber security sector in Wales by more than 50% in terms of volume of businesses;
• Attracted more than £20m in private equity investment to scale around 50% of these businesses;
• Trained more than 1,000 cyber-skilled individuals.
• Due to the co-ordinated approach and the critical mass created, the Hub will become a core business partner to major cyber security organisations in the Cheltenham “Cyber Park” development, the wider UK, and the rest of the World.

The Hub will help attract and anchor the best cybersecurity talent in Wales, which will also benefit the local foundational economy.

UK Government Wales Office Minister David TC Davies said: “I am delighted to see this world-beating new centre open in the Cardiff Capital Region, supported as a part of the UK Government’s £375m investment in the City Region Deal.

“This will bring jobs and growth to the area as well as putting Wales at the heart of the cybersecurity industry.”