The UK government will launch a scheme to address the shortage of cyber skills in the country.

The £1.3 million package will tap into local knowledge across England and Northern Ireland to fund initiatives which directly address the cyber skills needs of individual areas.

The funding will enable organisations such as universities, local councils and businesses to provide cyber skills training, and fund organisations developing new innovations in cyber defence.

The initiative will be delivered by Innovate UK and organisations who apply to the scheme could receive grants of up to £150,000.

To further bridge the global cyber skills gap, the government said it also partnering with CREST International – a non-profit organisation representing standards in the global cyber security community - to launch the CREST Cyber Accelerated Maturity Programme (CAMP).

This is sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and will provide mentoring to cyber service providers to develop their capabilities, experience and skills.

Countries in Europe, Africa, South-East Asia, and the Middle East have been invited to join as founding partners.

“Later this year, we’ll bring forward new measures to better protect the nation from cyber-crime and our new regional skills programme will support the next generation of cyber talent and innovators,” said cyber security minister Feryal Clark. “But this is a shared challenge, which is why we’re bringing together global allies to discuss and agree steps to keep us safe online, improve cyber skills and protect our economy and public services.

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