University-led £4.9 million initiative to turbocharge North West England’s cyber ambitions

CyberFocus is one of seven new projects supported through an overall funding package of £22 million from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Place Based Impact Acceleration Account (PBIAA) scheme to strengthen emerging and existing research and innovation clusters to kickstart economic growth and address regional needs.

Developing trusted partnerships between academia, industry, and civic bodies, CyberFocus will strengthen and deliver strategic investments in the region’s cyber ‘ecosystem’. The North West has one of the largest clusters of cyber security businesses outside London with around 300 companies in the sector. The region’s strength in cyber is also benefitting from the arrival of GCHQ in Manchester and the imminent arrival of the National Cyber Force in Lancashire.

The University of Cumbria will collaborate in the CyberFocus project with the Universities of Lancaster (Lead Partner), Manchester, Salford, Central Lancashire, Manchester Metropolitan and Liverpool, and will be supported by other partners including Team Barrow (Westmorland & Furness Council, and BAE Systems), Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Lancashire County Council.  

CyberFocus will leverage the cyber expertise within the seven partner universities and other close partners that together form the North West Cyber Corridor stretching from Lancashire to Manchester and encompassing Cumbria, Merseyside and Cheshire. The programme will act as a catalyst for cyber knowledge exchange so that research ideas and innovations are transformed into solutions, products and services that will help protect people and businesses as well as drive economic growth.

In addition to supporting the development of cutting-edge innovations, CyberFocus will support regional civic ambitions and drive prosperity and protection in the region by accelerating growth through securing further inward-investments in the region’s cyber sector.

CyberFocus will also draw on regional partners across key industrial sectors to forge research-led partnerships and address regional challenges to fuel job creation, economic growth, and improved cyber resilience.

And partner universities will be at the forefront of developing new cohorts of people equipped with the vital high-demand cyber skills required in the region.

The new project aims to:   

• create 85 new collaborative partnerships,

• develop 400 new products, processes, or services,

• secure £40m additional funding for the region, 

• train 300 individuals in cyber innovation skills.

Professor Jill Stewart, professor of systems modelling and optimisation and Lead Investigator of CyberFocus at the University of Cumbria said:

“University of Cumbria is a key regional transformational institution, and cyber security is a fundamental challenge to all businesses. We will work to address systemic challenges, benefitting all business sectors and supply chains from major industry to SMEs, with emphasis on ‘Innovation, Competitiveness, Resilience and Employability’.

“The project is a critical catalyst for place-based impact and change, stimulating collaboration between Universities, Industry and Civic Institutions, and we are excited to be engaged in addressing this challenge."

University of Cumbria’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Brian Webster Henderson OBE said: “CyberFocus will play a leading role in fostering trusted partnerships and supporting cyber innovation across our region’s key sectors.

“It will drive the creation of new jobs, increase economic growth and will also enhance the region and nation’s overall cyber resilience. Through strong partnership working, the programme will help realise the full impacts of the emerging North West Cyber Corridor, further strengthening our region’s position at the forefront in cyber innovation and addressing today’s cyber threats.”

UK Science Minister Lord Vallance said: "We are backing universities across the UK to home in on local strengths in research to support thousands of local jobs, boost skills and bring new technologies to market.

“This investment will allow innovators up and down the country to continue or expand their pioneering work to improve lives and kickstart growth in our economy with new opportunities.”