University to play key role in ‘once in a generation opportunity’ for Lancashire
The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is to play a key role in establishing Lancashire as an undisputed national leader for cyber and security-related capabilities.
The development of the new National Cyber Force (NCF), announced yesterday by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, will play a key role in national security.
Located at Samlesbury and bringing highly skilled jobs to Lancashire, the exciting initiative will be driven by a powerful collaboration which alongside UCLan also includes Lancashire County Council, the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Lancaster University and BAE Systems.
The partners’ vision is to turn a ‘once in a generation opportunity’ for Lancashire into reality. By extending the proposed Northwest Cyber Corridor from Manchester through to Lancaster and beyond, Samlesbury will become the heart of a thriving, collaborative regional cyber and security innovation ecosystem.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for the region, and I am delighted we are able to bring our academic talent to this collaboration and to provide opportunities for our students that will hopefully lead to successful future careers within Lancashire."
— UCLan Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Baldwin
This extraordinary development brings multi-million pound investment into Lancashire and places the region at the threshold of an unheralded opportunity to emerge as a sector-leading global influence. Working as a collaborative giant of academic, research, enterprise and community facing strategies, UCLan will step onto this platform and work alongside Lancaster University and further education colleges to drive standards, create policies and provide global leadership.
Commenting on the announcement UCLan’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Baldwin said: “The University of Central Lancashire is delighted to be working in partnership with the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster University to support this multi-million pound cyber investment in to Lancashire.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for the region, and I am delighted we are able to bring our academic talent to this collaboration and to provide opportunities for our students that will hopefully lead to successful future careers within Lancashire.
“Our University is passionate about helping to level up the north and this investment brings to life how universities can work together with industry to build the supply chain for the future. These are very exciting times indeed, providing excellent real-world learning opportunities for our students.”
Bringing unparalleled opportunities to generate positive economic and societal impacts for the region, Lancashire is already home to a rich seam of cyber-related research and innovation assets across industry and academia.
However, this sustained investment over many years in cyber skills and education, provides easy and ready access to a critical mass of un-tapped talent across the whole education system bringing high-value skills and employability to the region.