Lancashire gears up for cyber growth
Over 200 senior business leaders, investors, policymakers, and academics from across the UK gathered this week at the Lancashire Cyber Festival. Building upon the success of the 2023 inaugural event, attendees discussed Lancashire’s unique opportunity to become a global leader in the cyber sector.
Produced by the Lancashire Cyber Partnership (LCP), a strategic collaboration between BAE Systems, Lancashire County Council, Lancaster University, the National Cyber Force (NCF), and the University of Lancashire, the festival was hosted at Lancaster University.
Across two days, the event highlighted Lancashire’s growing cyber ecosystem and the pivotal role it will play in the UK’s ‘whole of society’ approach to strengthening national security, as outlined in the government’s Strategic Defence Review (SDR).
With Lancashire also named in the government’s new Industrial Strategy as one of the UK’s leading hubs of cyber security excellence - alongside a commitment to making cyber one of the country’s most important ‘frontier technologies’ - the festival looked at what Lancashire can do to maximise such transformative opportunities.
Nick Miles, the National Cyber Force’s Deputy Director for Samlesbury, said: “The recent Strategic Defence Review has clearly stated what a vital role regional innovation ecosystems like Lancashire’s have to play in strengthening national defence and security, by fostering local-national partnerships, and building critical mass in key technologies such as cyber.
“As the NCF prepares to open our Samlesbury headquarters, we are excited to be at the forefront of this once in a generation opportunity for the region.”
How cyber can support Lancashire’s broader economic priorities was a subject unpacked by Mo Isap, Chair of the Lancashire County Combined Authority’s (LCCA) Business Board.
He said: “The LCCA’s Growth Plan puts security, nuclear and digital as Lancashire’s primary economic drivers. Cyber, as a cross-cutting enabler, is essential to the success of all three, and an area where we can develop a genuine competitive edge.
"Lancashire is the UK’s cyber county, and we will lead on delivering our nation’s long term security on behalf of government. The Lancashire Cyber Festival has given us the opportunity to show that we not only have the capabilities and capacity to fulfil this role, but that we have the ambition to go much further."
A spokesperson from the LCP said: “This year’s festival had a strong focus on maximising the government’s increased spending on defence, security and cyber, while simultaneously enabling growth in other key Lancashire sectors and their supply chains.
“Feedback from delegates, including many SMEs, suggests it was relevant and timely, and we look forward to helping to channel the ideas generated by the event into tangible actions which will help Lancashire realise its full commercial potential.”
The festival marked the second major intervention of the year by the LCP. In February, it produced Lancashire’s Cyber Education Week, a week-long celebration of cyber skills and careers which engaged over 12,000 young people across 200 local schools and colleges.