One thing that I am proud of when it comes to CyberNorth is its willingness to engage with other clusters, to share, to learn and to collaborate. In many ways, we are leading the drive for cross cluster collaboration, at least here in the North.
Last year we worked with our colleagues in Yorkshire and the North West Cyber Security Clusters on the Northern Cyber Cluster Collaboration project, as well as Cynam on the Empower girls’ event at Newcastle United. This year we are already planning some joint events with these clusters again.
We mustn’t just look south though. CyberNorth’s area abuts that of ScotlandIS, the membership and cluster management organisation for Scotland’s digital technologies industry (the cyber security cluster sits within its portfolio). They’re doing some great things and that is why Danielle and I got on a train to go and visit the organisation at its surprisingly snow free office in Linlithgow. To be honest, it is easier to get there from Newcastle than it is to get to Manchester, Sheffield and especially Cheltenham.
To start off, it is perhaps easier to describe how different ScotlandIS is to CyberNorth. It’s bigger, with ten permanent staff, it’s better funded, with support from the Scottish Government, though much of its funding is through membership, and it comprises more than just cyber security.
The similarities are greater than the differences however. Both CyberNorth and ScotlandIS are working to support the growth of the cyber security sector in their regions. Both are looking at the ecosystem, innovation and skills. We both swapped stories and shared our current initiatives, with each side taking away things to look at in the future.
We are particularly interested in how we can address cyber security issues in the less populated border region which covers the south of Scotland and the north of England (CyberNorth and the North West CSC) and would also be of interest to the North Yorkshire area (Yorkshire CSC). This is something we’ll definitely get our teeth into.
It was an excellent day, with so much to think about and I can’t wait until the return visit when they come down to Newcastle.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 