Tag Archives: Cyber Cluster

Cyber, Growth, and Regional Futures: A Comparative Synthesis of Six 2025 Reports: From Fragmentation to Framework

2025 has been a year of noise, policy papers, strategies, and growth plans, each declaring the next leap for UK cyber and regional innovation. But noise isn’t movement. Across six flagship reports, DSIT’s Cyber Growth Action Plan, WMCA’s Futures and Growth Plans, the Tech Nation 2025 report, the Midlands Engine Cyber & Defence report, and DSIT’s Cyber Skills 2025, the pattern repeats: good intent, weak execution, no continuity. Together, they map £77 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA), 143,000 cyber professionals, and £17 billion in projected uplift, but no coherent operating model. This paper builds one: treating cyber as economic infrastructure and the West Midlands as the proof-of-concept for a practitioner-led, resilient growth framework.

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From Policy to Place: Aligning the UK Cyber Policy with the West Midlands Futures Growth Plan

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The UK Cyber Policy 2025 and the West Midlands Futures Green Paper 2025 set bold agendas but risk gaps without practitioner-led delivery. The national policy offers ambition but lacks continuity, metrics, and practitioner voice. The regional plan lays strong scaffolding but underweights cyber, leaning too heavily on AI. A ten-point roadmap shows the way forward: formally recognise cyber as a standalone cluster, unify governance, foster community, attract investment, establish a hub, launch a festival, rebuild narrative, reform SME funding access, enhance talent strategy, and create a regional benchmarking index. Anchored in the West Midlands Cyber Hub, this approach can balance national ambition with regional delivery, making resilience a driver of inclusive growth.

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Cyber Collaboration in the West Midlands: Skills, Strategy, and a Shared Future

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On 29 April 2025, the West Midlands Cyber Working Group met at Gowling WLG in Birmingham to explore how collaboration can drive cyber resilience, skills development, and strategic growth across the region. Speakers, including Andy Hague (TechWM), Dan Rodrigues (CyberFirst), Dave Walker (ex-AWS), Sarah Gray and Louise Macdonald (Gowling WLG), and Wayne Horkan (WM CWG Chair) shared insights on scaling regional leadership, building inclusive talent pipelines, addressing AI security risks, and navigating evolving legal frameworks. The event underscored a shared ambition to position the West Midlands not just as a participant but as a leader in the UK’s cyber ecosystem.

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Cybersecurity Meets Health Innovation: Rethinking Risk at the OT Frontline

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Cybersecurity in healthcare isn’t an IT sidebar; it’s now a core operational risk and a foundational element of patient safety and innovation. This write-up captures the highlights, insights, and next steps from our June 2025 event (last Monday), convening leaders across health, cyber, academia, and business.

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Cyber as a Cluster: A Critical Review of the Midlands Engine Cyber & Defence Report (April 2025)

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Cyber in the West Midlands is no longer just a business activity, it’s a cluster. With the right action, it can become a strategic economic engine. This review critiques the Midlands Engine Cyber & Defence Report (April 2025) and sets out a ten-point plan to make that transformation real. The opportunity is clear. The data is in. Now we must deliver.

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