Right across the country – in clusters and beyond - there are huge prizes to be had from fostering more collaboration between business, universities and innovation centres.
The CBI’s second national cluster demonstrator was formally announced by President Brian McBride in November 2022.
“To leverage the strength of UK research and build more of the partnerships we need, the CBI is working with business, government and universities to launch a second demonstrator cluster, called Cyber Tech West.”
Brian McBride, CBI President 2022 – 2024
The Cluster will be anchored in Cheltenham, home to GCHQ, and will be delivered in partnership with CyNam, an umbrella business membership organisation that enables networking, support, and innovation across Cheltenham’s cyber ecosystem.
Business-led, Cyber Tech West will drive positive national and global impacts for British businesses.
The Cluster’s geography will focus primarily on the West and South-West of England and will engage both with other parts of the UK and with international partners as relevant. The Clusters Team envisions this as a 'hub and spoke model': Cheltenham and GCHQ act as the hub with primary spokes reaching to Bristol, Cardiff, Chippenham, Oxford, Malvern, and Hereford; and secondary spokes reaching to Belfast, Manchester, and London.
Cyber Tech West will engage, broadly speaking, with cyber security, defence, and intelligence, drawing on the region’s technical and creative strengths as it explores collaborative and cross-sector applications for relevant technologies. This cross-sector approach will expand market opportunities across the UK economy and encourage further adoption of secure technologies across sectors.
Skills, innovation, investment, and policy have been identified as priority focus areas for the Cluster. The Clusters Team is currently working with internal colleagues, CBI Members, and external partners to develop activity and delivery plans and workstreams.
CBI members BT, University of Bristol, and Airbus have agreed to be initial anchor institutions – with Leonardo, Marsh, Aon, Qinetiq, QA, and University of Bath Spa also agreeing to be part of the Cluster – demonstrating strong support among highly respected Tier 1 businesses and academia.
Cyber Tech West was also directly referenced in the CBI’s response to the announced refresh of HMG's Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy.
A vision document is currently being drafted and designed with content coming from CBI Members and stakeholders in the South-West, with the expectation to launch it at CyberUK in Belfast, mid-April 2023.
