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The new National Cyber Force (NCF) headquarters will benefit as much from being based in Lancashire as the county will benefit from hosting it.
That was the message from the organisation’s Commander who heaped praise on the efforts being made to prepare the kind of workforce the facility will need when it opens later this year in Samlesbury, near Preston.
Air Vice-Marshal Tim Neal-Hopes was speaking during the county’s Cyber Education Week, a series of events – dubbed the ‘cyber skills takeover’ – designed to show more than 12,000 pupils and students from over 200 Lancashire schools, colleges and universities the kind of careers that will soon be on their doorstep.
The NCF was established just five years ago – as a partnership between the defence and intelligence sectors – with a mission to protect the UK from the 21st-century threats posed in cyberspace by terrorists, criminals and other countries.
Talking for the first time to local media, Commander Tim said Lancashire was perfectly placed to be at the forefront of the digital defence endeavour – not least because of the skills being developed there.
“It’s not just about the benefits to Lancashire – it’s the benefits the National Cyber Force gets from being in Lancashire as well.
“The educational facilities [and] the quality of students that are [in] this area are through the roof and absolutely wonderful. So I am sure there will be the opportunities, the talent [and] the attitude to come and join us – and then also the National Cyber Force will want to invest in those individuals.
“Events like this week…[are about]…what we can do [to] be able to support the education process here [and] bring jobs to the community. But also, we’ll gain massively from being able to recruit from [Lancashire].
“So I think it really is a win-win dynamic,” Commander Tim said.
He also stressed that there was much more to the NCF than the “techie side” of the operation, meaning it could offer a broader range of job opportunities than might first be expected.
That sentiment was echoed by the head of the Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership, Kerry Harrison, who said while the careers offered by the NCF might be high-level, they are not necessarily high-tech.
“Cyber is not just sitting at a keyboard and looking at a laptop screen. It’s about having those psychologists [and] behaviourists who know how to work with communities…[as well as] linguists…comms specialists, legal specialists.
“I think we talk about it homogeneously, like it’s one job, but it’s clearly not – there’s so many different variations of what cyber is,” Kerry explained.
It is expected that having the NCF base at the heart of Lancashire will generate around 2,000 jobs within the next decade – not just those directly employed by the organisation, but in relevant businesses that it is hoped will cluster around the new HQ.
Professor StJohn Crean, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), said it was the development of a wider cyberspace “industry” that would bring the broadest benefits to the county.
“[When] you get something as influential as the National Cyber Force coming to Lancashire, setting up a huge security-based operation, suddenly you’re going to become very attractive to the cyber security arena and all its adjuncts,” explained Prof Crean, who was also speaking on behalf of Lancaster University as a representative of the higher education sector within the Lancashire Cyber Partnership.
“One of the messages…[we] are promoting is that Lancashire has an opportunity to build an ecosystem – a connected set of businesses that have direct reliance on the cyber world – but also the wraparound [services] like project management…legal and ethics and accounting.
“I think we’ve shown with industries like aerospace that once culture becomes embedded, you create communities that remain focused in and around that type of industry. We want to have a [cyber workforce] based in Lancashire, not commuting from outside the region.
“This is our opportunity to become that recognised centre of cyber security, contributing to not only national security, but global security,” Prof Crean said.
Keep on keeping up
The first wave of jobs at the NCF headquarters were advertised just last month, with the organisation offering successful candidates – who needed no formal science, technology, engineering and maths qualifications to apply – a paid 18-month course, before welcoming them into the organisation’s Computer Network Exploitation team to help defend the UK from digital threats.
With on-the-job training like that – and the speed of change that defines the world of technology – what role for Lancashire’s education sector in preparing young people for cyberspace work? A significant one, according to Kerry Harrison.
“It’s around building resilience and that love of learning throughout their education. We know that technology has a four or five-year lifespan on it – and things evolve.
“So as we go through school, we can teach [pupils] the basics of the technology we have now, they can get those essential digital skills in place – and then as the technology…changes, we can move with it and they are more confident…to pick up these new skills that they need.
“If we can embed…curiosity and problem solving, [then] picking up the latest device or logging on to the latest platform and learning how to use it will just be a normal, natural thing,” Kerry said.
She added that it was important not to presume all young people are tech masters – citing a recent research which suggested as many as half of 18-to-25-year-olds were lacking in the basics.
While he eschews the characterisation of cyber training as a “challenge” – describing it instead as “an opportunity” – Prof StJohn Crean acknowledges that Lancashire’s universities will have to demonstrate that they are “fleet of foot”.
“What it’s forcing us to do – although I think we’ve got a good history [in this respect] – is to listen to what industry wants, not tell industry what we have.
“Then we have…maybe to adjust various elements of curriculum and development and skills. We’ve got to be able to adapt…[and meet] that need from the industry.
“Because let’s face it, it’s an innovation-based industry – and it’s going to change. Therefore we, as…one of the pipeline suppliers, have to be able to demonstrate that change appetite and speed of thought.”
‘AI should be there to help, not harm’
After four decades working in a variety of tech and cyber roles in the armed forces, Commander Tim Neal-Hopes is in no doubt of the need for the NCF in a digitally connected and increasingly uncertain world.
“The National Cyber Force is ultimately about us helping keep our citizens and our friends and allies across the world safe online. In every facet of our life, we rely on cyberspace now – it would be folly to think you didn’t actually have to try and keep cyberspace safe.
“There are people out there who would wish to do us harm – and we’re trying to disrupt them and deny them [the opportunity] to do it,” he said.
However, the military veteran seemed sanguine about the speed at which artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved in just the last few years, sparking concern in some quarters that we could be on the verge of losing control of the technology we have created.
“If you look at every element of technology, it can be used for good, and unfortunately, there are individuals that would seek to do as harm.
“When I studied for my undergrad degree here in this very region… we were talking about AI then. So I don’t think it’s necessarily taken us by surprise, but it genuinely feels very real now and is impacting across all of society.
“I think it’s very similar to when the computer was introduced and you saw it becoming the home computer in the early ‘90s. I think we’re seeing AI in that sense now – that [it] is touching upon all facets of our lives, so I don’t see it as something different.
“In the same way that any technology has to be used responsibly, we’ll have to make sure [AI is] used to keep people safe…as well.
“You see it in terms of the cyber security business. There’s very few cyber security products that don’t say that they have some form of AI that help you stay safe online – so I think it’s there to help us,” Commander Tim said.
Inspiring the cyber spooks of the future
Lancashire’s Cyber Education Week included a raft of events designed to get the cyber defenders of the future thinking about a career in the sector, including:
***the county’s further education and sixth-form colleges – including Runshaw College, Cardinal Newman College, Myerscough College, Preston College, Blackpool and Fylde College, Blackpool Sixth, Lancaster and Morecambe College, Blackburn College, Burnley College, Accrington and Rossendale College, Nelson and Colne College, and West Lancashire College – coming together to deliver interactive activities focused on cyber skills and science, technology and maths education to groups of visiting Year 9 and 10 pupils;
***cohorts of 16-18 year olds visiting one of Lancashire’s three universities (Edge Hill University, Lancaster University, and the University of Central Lancashire) to experience what studying a cyber-related subject would be like at degree level;
***a technology discovery day specifically designed to encourage more girls to consider a career in cyber, hosted at Chorley Town Hall;
***NCF Commander Tim Neal-Hopes addressing thousands of Lancashire students through a speech which was live-streamed to all the county’s further education and sixth-form colleges;
***over 40 primary schools taking part in cyber-themed online assemblies;
***a series of hands-on tech workshops for nine and ten-year-olds at the University of Central Lancashire.
Lancashire County Council leader Phillippa Williamson said Cyber Education Week had “given thousands of young people at different stages of education the chance to experience the exciting skills and job opportunities which are offered by Lancashire’s growing cyber sector”.
She added: “To achieve this, the Lancashire Cyber Partnership worked closely with schools, colleges, universities, and many other providers, to create a dynamic programme of events which were directly related to the different cyber careers and study pathways available across Lancashire.
“It is great that we’ve seen learners of all ages, from all backgrounds, and from all parts of Lancashire,taking part in a diverse range of engaging activities which have been hands-on and inspiring, as well as educational.”
The Lancashire Cyber Partnership was established in 2023 in order to bring together all of the public and private sector players that will have to collaborate in order to ensure the new NCF headquarters is everything the county – and the country – needs it to be.
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