Cyber-security: £5 million investment in UK innovation
The investment was announced at the 5th World Cyber Security Technology Research Summit in Northern Ireland.
Cyber-security plays a critical part in building a resilient and connected economy
The funding, from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK, will support the further development of the Centre for Secure Information Technology (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast – complementing £9 million core funding from Queen’s.
The funding will be used to:
- enhance security in virtual environments and connected devices
- tackle malware threats and detect and prevent fraud or personal information theft from laptops, smartphones and cloud storage
The centre will use the funding to build on industry and academic partnerships worldwide – increasing the projected level of investment to £38 million in the next 5 years.
Using science to create growth and jobs
Director of Technology and Innovation at Innovate UK Kevin Baughan said:
CSIT has delivered significant UK economic growth through our original joint investment with EPSRC, contributing to over 950 new jobs in the Belfast cyber security cluster.
By extending funding for a further 5 years, we underline our support for their commitment to raise the commercialisation bar even higher. This will help companies of all sizes grow through leveraging the excellent UK science base in cyber security.
Innovation and Knowledge Centres
CSIT is one of 7 UK Innovation and Knowledge Centres (IKCs) funded by EPSRC since 2007 with co-funding from Innovate UK and BBSRC. IKCs commercialise emerging technologies through creating early stage critical mass in areas of disruptive technology.
Based in a university, they are led by an expert entrepreneurial team. While continuing to advance the research agenda, they create impact by enhancing wealth generation of the businesses with which they work.
Professor John McCanny from CSIT said:
This further investment in CSIT recognises how over the last 5 years we have successfully blended world class research and innovation to deliver economic impact nationally, internationally and regionally.
This funding will allow us to further accelerate new value creation in this sector, drive business venture creation through our new pre-accelerator programme and build capacity for the industry by providing it with high calibre Masters and PhDs graduates.
Find out more about our funding to support innovation in cyber-security