Britain’s spy agency GCHQ and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport this week announced a £6.5 million investment in CyberInvest, a new initiative aimed at offering support for cyber security research.
Launched at IA15, the UK Government’s Cyber Security and Information Assurance event, the new program allows enterprises to take advantage of the expertise of GCHQ, EPSRC and leading academics, and to invest in research areas believed to be critical for nation-wide protection. According to GCHQ, CyberInvest will help creating a community of industry, government and academia capable of investing in cyber security research.
CyberInvest is also meant to provide a forum for the latest in cyber security research, which should make it easier for companies to invest in research and to find the right opportunities through learning where investments are made. NCSP and EPSRC have already funded cyber security research that resulted in the development of innovative products, GCHQ explains.
GCHQ also announced that all companies are encouraged to join the new initiative, regardless of their size. The initiative accepts a range of investment levels, starting at £10,000 for companies with less than 10 employees and growing to £500,000 for companies with more than 250 employees.
“CyberInvest is an exciting initiative which brings industry, Government and academia together, and builds on the UK’s reputation as a global leader for cyber security research. Over the last 4 years we have invested over £20 million in UK cyber security research, and the new CyberInvest scheme will play an important role in our ongoing work to help protect UK citizens and businesses online,” Rt Hon Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, said at the opening of IA15.