The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is to invest £500,000 in four projects to improve cyber skills in less-represented groups and develop more diversity in the industry.
As part of the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund (CSIIF), the money will be used to attract more women, black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME), and “neurodiverse candidates” to roles in the sector.
DCMS said that the additional funding will help organisations develop and sustain projects that identify, train and rapidly place untapped talent from a range of backgrounds into cyber security roles.
The £500,000 will be split between four projects:
- The Crucial Academy Diversity in Cyber Security project is a Brighton-based initiative aiming to retrain veterans in cyber security, and is focused on female, neurodiverse and BAME candidates.
- The QA: Cyber Software Academy for Women runs across several cities in the UK, including London, Bristol and Manchester, training women for cyber security roles.
- The Blue Screen IT: Hacked project will use the funding to scale a project that already exists, giving people, including those from poorer socio-economic backgrounds, neurodiverse and special needs talent, the skills needed for a cyber career.
- Hacker House : Hands on Hacking, Training and Employer Portal, an online portal to give people access to training and potential employers.
Digital Minister Margot James said: “Our cyber security industry is thriving but to support this growing success we need a skilled and diverse workforce to match. These latest projects show that whatever your background, ethnicity or sex, there are opportunities to join the cyber security profession.
"We want to demonstrate that you can have a dynamic and exciting career in a sector that sits at the heart of our economy, and is a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy.”
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