Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to promote investment in cyber security companies in all regions and constituent parts of the UK.

Through the Government’s National Cyber Security Programme, my Department is delivering an ambitious set of initiatives to support the growth of and investment in cyber security companies across the United Kingdom, including those from Northern Ireland. In particular, we provide opportunities for early stage companies from across the UK to be represented at selected events where they can showcase their technologies and expertise in order to secure investment. We are also funding the delivery of two cyber innovation centres which are open to companies from across the UK.

We are also funding the delivery of ‘Hut Zero’, an accelerator programme for individuals with cyber security ideas , and ‘Cyber 101’ business training ‘bootcamps’ for early stage companies, some of which are being delivered in Northern Ireland. I am particularly delighted that Queen’s University Belfast’s Centre for Secure Information Technology is playing a pivotal role in the delivery of both of those initiatives.