Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the commitment set out in the New Decade, New Approach document published in January 2020, what progress has been made in promoting Northern Ireland as a global cyber security hub.

This Government is committed to promoting Northern Ireland as a global cyber security hub, and to helping achieve the New Decade, New Approach target of 5,000 cyber security professionals working in Northern Ireland by 2030. Cyber is a growing sector in Northern Ireland, home to 4% of the UK’s cyber security workforce despite representing 2.8% of the UK population.

To this end, the Government provided Invest NI with £8 million to expand their overseas presence, through the New Deal for Northern Ireland, to attract investment and further promote Northern Ireland’s cybersecurity excellence on a global stage.

The Government has also invested £15 million from the New Deal fund in the Skill Up initiative which includes courses focused on cyber security to develop a pipeline of cyber professionals. Cyber security is a sector we are also supporting through the City and Growth Deals programme, with projects such as the Global Innovation Institute forming part of the Belfast Regional City Deal.