Insurers, brokers, and other industry stakeholders have been championing inclusion with initiatives like the Inclusive Behaviours Pledge… now another sector is getting a further boost for its own diversity push.
“Our cybersecurity industry is thriving but to support this growing success we need a skilled and diverse workforce to match,” noted Digital Minister Margot James when fresh funding for diversity initiatives across England was announced.
The projects – Crucial Academy: Diversity in Cyber Security; QA: Cyber Software Academy for Women; Blue Screen IT: HACKED; and Hacker House Ltd: Hands-on Hacking, Training, and Employer Portal – will benefit from a total investment of at least £500,000 as part of the next round of the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund (CSIIF).
Their goal is to encourage more women, BAME (black, Asian, and minority ethnic), and neurodiverse candidates into a cybersecurity career. The CSIIF, whose pilot was launched in February 2018, supports the National Cyber Security Strategy’s aim of developing a sustainable supply of homegrown cybersecurity talent in the UK.
“These latest projects show that whatever your background, ethnicity, or sex, there are opportunities to join the cybersecurity profession,” said James. “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.”
