Scarborough Council unveil ambitious plan to create a 'national centre of excellence for cyber security' in Yorkshire

Scarborough Council is set to approve a £237,000 project that the authority hopes will make Scarborough and the Yorkshire coast a “national centre of excellence for cyber security with a specialist focus on operational technology”.

The Scarborough Cyber Security Cluster Strategy aims to form a partnership between Government, industry, and academic institutions to create “new opportunities, products, services and solutions to new and existing business” and to provide “new, innovative, and in demand cyber security skills”.

If approved on Friday September 30 by Cllr Liz Colling, the cabinet member for inclusive growth, the authority would provide £140,000 for the project alongside a £97,000 grant from mining company Anglo Amerian.

A report published by Scarborough Council said the project will be built around “a network approach” that will draw on physical buildings including Scarborough’s proposed FabLab+ facility which “will have a pivotal role in providing a focus for activity”.

The FabLab+ project is part of the council’s levelling up and “gateway” redevelopment plans for demolishing the former Comet building on Westwood and creating new town centre digital workspaces.

The Cyber Security Cluster Strategy will have a preliminary deadline of March 31 2023, ahead of the new North Yorkshire Council as part of local Government reorganisation in April next year.

A pilot programme, in partnership with Anglo American, Coventry University Scarborough, and Scarborough Council, has been devised “to build momentum in the short term and as proof of concept”.

It aims to engage with 120 organisations on increasing cyber security awareness, training initiatives to increase career opportunities and create a “real-world” science challenge.

The strategy will also support 25 small and medium-sized businesses to “implement the steps needed to protect their business and customers from the most common cyber attacks”.

A report by the council’s head of economic development, Alex Richards, found there is no established “cyber cluster” on the eastern coast of England and no cluster nationally with a focus on operational technology, which will be the focus of the Scarborough cluster.

Operational technology is hardware and software that detects or causes a change through the direct monitoring or control of industrial equipment.

However, the council has said that it will require the direct support of a range of partners to make the project a reality.

So far the authority has already worked with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), which has more than 200 people working at its signals intelligence station in Scarborough.

The report states that cyber attacks are becoming increasingly frequent across the world, adding that “the expansion of the UK’s investment in offensive cyber operations creates new opportunities”.

Earlier this year Scarborough Council’s head of ICT reported that the authority is targeted by hundreds of Russian cyber attack attempts on “a daily basis”.

The council is also looking to partner with mining company Anglo American, which has a site located south of Whitby.

The report concludes that the project will be put out to tender to secure “professional support” to deliver the proposal.