Cyber Wales Opportunities

Current Opportunities

Below are details of current opportunities. See past opportunities in the Archive

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Wales Technology Awards 2024

Published: 9 november 2023

Brought to you by Technology Connected, the network for the technology industry in Wales, we are thrilled to announce the return of the highly anticipated Wales Technology Awards for 2024. As the creators of Wales Tech Week, we are honoured to now shift the spotlight from the industry as a whole to focus on celebrating the incredible individuals and projects which are driving it forward.

Without the truly great individuals, teams and organisations behind these innovative solutions, the enabling technology of today and tomorrow would simply not exist.

The Wales Technology Awards 2024 will showcase and celebrate these remarkable people, their ingenuity and their businesses – collectively championing Wales' dynamic Tech Industry.

The Wales Technology Awards 2024 is poised to serve as a prestigious platform to showcase and honour those who underpin Wales' thriving and vibrant tech industry.

Join us for a celebration of innovation, excellence, and the enduring impact of the technology sector in Wales.

Register your place here: https://technologyconnected.glueup.com/event/91997/register/ 

CyberFirst Girls Competition 23/24

Published: 25th September 2023

Introduction

The CyberFirst Girls Competition aims to inspire girls interested in technology to pursue a career in cyber security.

The competition is a team event. Each team – consisting of up to four girls in Year 8 (England and Wales), S2 (Scotland) or Year 9 (Northern Ireland) – tackle challenges from cryptography and logic to artificial intelligence and networking for the chance to be crowned cyber security champions.

Every girl from the winning teams will take a brand-new laptop home, and have a chance to win prize money for their school.


Registration open now

This year the online qualifier and final are being brought together so the entire competition is online with the 13 regional and home nation top scoring teams across the UK being invited to a celebratory event (location tbc).

Register now for the CyberFirst Girls Competition 2023/2024

  1.  

    Registration Open – Now

  2.  

    Competition Open – 20 November 2023

  3.  

    Competition Closes – 29 November 2023

  4.  

    Celebratory event – 2nd March 2024

Dates are subject to change.


What you need to know

  1. 1

     

    Teams are made up of up to four girls in Year 8, S2 or Year 9 (Northern Ireland).

  2. 2

     

    Schools can enter as many teams as they like if they meet the eligibility criteria above. 

  3. 3

     

    Teams need a team guardian. Must be over 18 and appointed by the school.

  4. 4

     

    Team guardians don’t need to have any cyber knowledge whatsoever. Their role is to register the teams and facilitate access to the competition. See our Teacher Information Pack for useful information, videos and links to help you get started. 

  5. 5

     


Competition structure

Each team is made of up to four girls from Year 8 in England and Wales, Year 9 in Northern Ireland, and S2 in Scotland.

The content for each category of the competition is consistent with subjects within the Computer Science syllabus from both the National Curriculum and Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence.

However, the competition will contain some advanced cyber topics that are not covered in traditional education but will seek to stretch the lateral thinking and additional cyber knowledge of the teams.

Register now for the CyberFirst Girls Competition 2023/2024


Awards

  1. Top Scoring state newcomer

    Highest scoring state school entering the competition for the first time 

  2. Most team entries (three categories: state school, state selective school and independent school)

    School with most teams entered (each team must have solved at least 10 challenges)

  3. Top-scoring team

    Highest scoring team

  4. Top-scoring CyberFirst school

    CyberFirst school with the highest collective score 

  5. Top-scoring returning school

    Highest scoring school that has entered the competition previously


Calling independent schools

Social mobility and inclusion are a key priority for the NCSC.

We’d love all independent schools to reach out to state schools and encourage them to register for the competition.

Share our short video to raise awareness of the competition. It highlights the benefits of why schools should enter the competition.

Thank you for your support.

DSIT Survey

Published: 14th August 2023

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)

We would like to invite you to participate in our survey, designed to gather valuable insights on the cyber security practices of suppliers providing connected places products and services in the UK.

Please follow the link to participate: https://dcms.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3ay5TuTQMCXAHIy 

Women in Cyber Newsletter - August 2023

Published: 4th August 2023

Dear friends

With the summer almost upon us, there is time for one last mailing before we sign off for a break. Just a few bits of news for you before we go:

CyBOK Showcase

On 18 September 2023, the CyBOK (Cyber Security Body of Knowledge) project is holding an external in-person event in Cardiff in partnership with the UK Cyber Security Council. Join us to find out more about the latest news from the project, including:

  • How CyBOK is evolving
  • CyBOK-funded projects
  • An update from the UK Cyber Security Council and specialisms
  • and more!

For more details and to register, visit the CyBOK website: https://www.cybok.org/events/cybok-showcase-event-18-september-2023 

Digital Security by Design (DSbD)

The Digital Security by Design Challenge has made a lot of progress and is now moving into a period of deeper connectivity across three sectors: Telecoms, Energy and Automotive Connectivity. Some useful talks from CyberUK are now available and can be found from the links below:

Their Mid-term report is also now available on the DSbD.tech site.

Empowering Women to Lead Cyber Programme

We are still waiting for dates for this to run in Wales, but there are programmes across the UK if you are further afield. This latest podcast from TechUK covers the benefits of the programme and the importance of supporting women in this sector: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/techuk_cybersecurity-empoweringwomentoleadcybersecurity-activity-7087733091221270528-LjuF 

Cyber Advisor Scheme

The Cyber Advisor scheme provides assurance that its members can offer excellent, reliable, independent and cost effective advice to small organisations wishing to implement the 5 Cyber Essentials Technical Controls, but lacking the in-house knowledge and skills to either do so themselves (or identify a 'good' supplier.)

In order to offer this NCSC-Assured service, an individual needs to pass the 'Certificate of Competence in Cyber Essentials Implementation'. More detailed information about the scheme is available here: https://iasme.co.uk/cyber-advisor-scheme and information about the assessment and what is required is available here: https://thecyberscheme.org/become-a-cyber-advisor/

There is an assessment centre happening in Cardiff on 12th September which currently has a few places still available. If you are interested you can find out more here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7090355450738532352/  

Next Women in Cyber Meeting 

We are hoping to run our next event in late September / October. As soon as we have a firm date we will let you know. 

Young Women in Cyber

It looks like we will see the launch of the Young Women in Cyber network in November. If you know of a young person aged 16-25 who would like to join the event please ask them to register their interest in the network using this link: https://forms.gle/H8JxA9oex9ghptBr8

For now, have a wonderful summer and see you in September!

 

Cofion cynnes | Kind regards  
  
Clare Johnson 
Sylfaenydd Menywod Mewn Seiber Cymru | Founder Women in Cyber Wales 

Funded Digital Apprenticeships - Cardiff Metropolitan University

Published: 2nd August 2023

Cardiff-Metropolitan-University-logo - Breathe:

Cardiff Metropolitan Unversity are offering Funded digital apprenticeships in the following subjects:

  • BSc Applied Data Science
  • BSc Applied Software Engineering
  • BSc Applied Cyber Security
 
 
Who is the funding for?
The funding can be used for both new apprentices coming into the business or existing staff who are looking to upskill to achieve a degree. Some may have already studied related qualifications at a lower level such as a Level 4 apprenticeship or a HNC/HND.  Previous qualifications could be used to enter the degree at a later stage meaning their time spent studying at the University is shorter.
 
How much funding is available?
The Government will pay a contribution of up to £27,000 per employee. This is £9000 a year over 3 years which is the equivalent to the full time tuition fee for University students. This does not have to be replayed should employees not complete the course.
 
How long does the course last?
The courses each last 3 years for anyone who enters with no previous University qualifications. For those with pre-standing qualifications they may be able to enter at a later stage via the recognition of prior learning which would shorten the course duration. .
 
What are the attendance requirements?
Apprentices will be required to attend University 1 day per week during term time at our Llandaff campus, this is for a total of 24 weeks of the year only.  
 

Learn more or register your interest here

 

Cyber Advisor Scheme

Published: 26th July 2023

IASME is partnering with the NCSC to deliver the Cyber Advisor scheme. It provides small and medium sized organisations with reliable and cost effective cyber security advice and practical support.

 

In the past, organisations seeking help from an NCSC approved cyber security expert tended to be very large and complex or be from the defence, security or banking industries or part of the critical national infrastructure. If your requirements are complex, or you operate in a nationally critical sector, see the NCSC Assured Cyber Security Consultancy scheme pages.

 

Today, expedited by the pandemic, the widespread adoption of digital technology for products and services has made basic cyber security essential to every business that connects to the internet. Accessibility to this protection contributes to the national security of the UK. Consequently, the NCSC aims to extend its reach to offer a trusted source of cyber security advice to a wider range of organisations.

 

Despite a growing emphasis on cyber security, many organisations often find it hard to choose the right help to meet current guidance. The Cyber Advisor scheme aims to ensure the understanding and application of trusted cyber security advice.

 

Find more information on how the scheme works and finding your cyber advisor here

 

FREE Digital Skills Bootcamps

Published: 21st July 2023

Institute of Coding Skills Bootcamps

Looking to upskill, reskill or retrain? Check out the collection of Skills Bootcamps offered by the Institute of Coding.

 

They are entirely free for learners and will help you build your tech skills.

 

Working across all universities in Wales to deliver these skills both virtually and in-person. Details of courses delivered in Bangor University, Wrexham Glyndwr University, University of South Wales, Aberystwyth University, University of Wales Trinity St David, Cardiff University and the Open University will be announced soon!

 

See what courses are available

 

Skilled Armed Forces veterans looking for a company like yours

Published: 5th May 2023

Hire a Hero is a charity that supports service leavers through the transition into civilian life. We work in partnership with public, private and third sector organisations to provide a network of support and to signpost service leavers to the most appropriate resources as required. 

 

Our mission is to support all service leavers and veterans, regular or reserve from all three services, regardless of time served, make the successful transition to meaningful, sustainable civilian employment.

 

Post a Vacancy

The Hire a Hero team sources appropriate vacancies for our job board whilst promoting the benefits of recruiting ex-military personnel to all businesses and organisations we connect with. Hire a Hero also attends various employment fairs throughout the year, we also provide a Career Coaching service to help and assist with your job search, employment advice and to make the successful transition into civilian employment. 

 

Become a Career Coach

Could you benefit from the support of a one-to-one Career Coach? Hire a Hero trained Career Coaches can offer you individualised support.

 

Help to raise money

Hire a Hero already has had supporters attempt Europe’s highest peak, skydive, rally across the desert, take on obstacle courses, and we hope that this will offer you an inspiration to undertake your own fundraising challenge. Of course, you don’t have to go to those extreme levels to raise funds for Hire a Hero, something as simple as a bake sale, concert or an evening’s event can raise vital funds for the heroes we work with.  The team at Hire a Hero will help you in putting together materials to promote your event, draft press releases, a blog on our website and promote whatever it is you intend on doing in our monthly newsletter.

 

Contact us

Our offices are at Queens Head Buildings, 12 Moor Street, Chepstow, NP16 5DD

+44 (0)1495 366670
[email protected]

 

Cyber Innovation Hub Challenge

Published: 13th February 2023

Challenge background

The Cyber Innovation Hub has been funded by the Welsh Government and Cardiff Capital Region with a mission to transform the Cardiff Capital Region into one of the UK’s leading cyber security clusters by 2030.  One of our objectives is to create more than 25 high-growth companies and, working closely with our industrial partners, this challenge programme is our key way of achieving that objective.  We aim to work with businesses and the public sector to pull through market-led innovation challenges – then drive rapid development of new, innovative solutions. The objective is that these will be tightly tailored to industry demand and attractive to private equity investors.

 

We’ll match-make challenge responders with entrepreneurs in the Alacrity Foundation’s incubation programme, building a team around the challenge responder, and providing them with support and services to scale quickly.  Teams will have access to internationally recognised researchers at Cardiff University.  These researchers have experience of generating and validating cyber security solutions on world-class testbeds. Teams will also have co-working space at Tramshed Tech – alongside existing cyber and digital SMEs.  The overall aim is for these teams to become new businesses at the end of the 12-month programme.

 

We are pleased to launch our very first challenge.  We are seeking innovators with potential solutions to the challenges identified below.

 

Challenge details

We are looking to identify, develop and demonstrate innovative solutions in the areas outlined below.  The challenge areas have been chosen to broadly align with challenges identified by the National Cyber Security Centre as ongoing dialogue suggests they are important to our industry partners.  We would ask you to think about the challenges and how you might solve a specific problem related to these areas.  The challenge areas are as follows:  

  • Operational technology
  • Protecting SMEs and citizens
  • Incident response for SMEs and citizens
  • Industrial IoT encryption

Call for Action

We are looking for ideas to address the cyber security challenge areas noted above.  

Challenge call launched Friday 3 March 2023
Online briefing event Thursday 23 March 2023, 1400-1500 UK-time.
Challenge call closes 12 noon (GMT) on 28 March 2023
Applicants notified 1 May 2023
Projects commence June 2023
Projects end June 2024

* Please note dates are subject to change *

 

To respond to the Call for Action, please use the form linked below.  Responders have the option of responding using the text form or uploading a five-minute video that outlines their proposal.  A set of guidance notes to help responders has been developed as is available here.

 

https://forms.office.com/e/y2pKx8X4zk

 

In any of the projects, we need ideas that can be rapidly developed and tested with the potential to be scaled and used across the UK over the coming months. 

 

Following the closing date, responses will be assessed by a panel of Cyber Innovation Hub partners to determine suitability and potential market viability.  If required, interviews with challenge responders may be arranged.

 

If successful, challenge responders will be invited to join the Cyber Innovation Hub innovation programme.  This programme, run by the Alacrity Foundation in Newport, will partner you with a team with the aim of creating a viable business with a market-ready solution.  The incubation programme is 12 months in duration and you will be expected to be located in the Cardiff region whilst you are on the programme.  To assist with costs, a stipend of £1,500 per month is offered.  The programme will guide you through ideation, product development and testing, marketing and revenue generation.

 

Throughout the programme you will have access to research expertise at Cardiff University, the incubator experience of the Alacrity Foundation and have access to the wider tech ecosystem through TramShed Tech.  Teams will be able to access physical space at TramShed Tech and the Alacrity Foundation.  The Cyber Innovation Hub is also in the process of designing and implementing cyber security testbeds in the innovative Sbarc|Spark building.  Throughout the programme you will also have support from our industry partners to ensure that market viability is at the forefront of development.

 

Free Graduate Recruitment for Cyber businesses in South Wales

Published: 23rd November 2022

I would appreciate it if you could share my contact details with any Cyber businesses in South Wales, that might want to benefit from free Graduate recruitment with the Venture Graduate programme. Please see below an overview of what we do:

 

Introducing - Venture Graduatesfree Graduate Recruitment for businesses based in the Cardiff Capital Region. Funded by the Cardiff Capital Region, we have already successfully placed over 100 graduates with a wide variety of employers in a diverse range of industries in the last 18 months. Moving forwards we are focusing on our priority sectors which includes Cyber Security.

 

We offer an end-to-end service that includes:  

 

  • Identifying the role and skills you need 
  • Crafting a Job Description/Advert for you 
  • Creating and managing a bespoke recruitment campaign  
  • Assessing & Interviewing all graduate applicants – this can include video interviews or online programming tests for any technical/coding roles  
  • Shortlisting the best talent for your business 
  • Career Accelerator Programme - a personalised development programme that supports your graduate in maximising their potential with you – this includes online courses such as “Cyber Essentials” and “Cyber Security Operations: CISCO” delivered through our University partners
  • Delivering a complete talent solution that’s shaped around your business

 

If you are interested in our services, then please get in touch and we can arrange a call/meeting to discuss further.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jack Taylor
Graduate Recruitment Lead

[email protected]

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Venture Graduate Website  

CIISec Apprenticeship Programme

Published: 14th September 2022

Here at CIISec we have a several opportunities to get involved in the CIISec Apprenticeship Programme & Associate Development Programme!

 

Are you engaging? Are you an educator in the Information Security industry? Would you like to inspire the next generation of Information Security professionals? If so, then we would love to hear from you to host an upcoming webinar session.

 

The topic areas we are speakers for are listed below:

 

ADP 

  • 11th October 22 Session 11 – E1, E2 Secure Operations Management and Service Delivery
  • 8th November 22 Session 12– F1, F2 Intrusion Detection and Analysis & Incident Management

 

  • 26th October- Session 1- Security Management
  • 23rd November- Session 2- A3, A4 Strategy and Business Innovation
  • 21st December- Session 3- A2 Governance, Policy and Standards

 

CAP

  • 9th November- Session 2- Threat Intelligence, Threat Assessment and Threat Modelling
  • 7th December- Session 3- Risk Assessment

 

If you would like to be a speaker for any of these topics/or would like to know more please do get in touch with either myself or [email protected].

Cyber sectoral analysis 2023

Published: 7th July 2022

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has commissioned Ipsos, an independent research organisation, to carry out an important survey about the cyber sector. They are inviting organisations that offer cyber security products and services to take part.

 

Over 115 cyber businesses have already participated. Taking part will help to influence government policy and support in the area of cyber security. The study will be published on GOV.UK. Last year’s report and press notice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-levels-of-investment-for-uks-101-billion-cyber-security-sector

 

Please contact Ipsos at [email protected] with a date, time and phone number, and Ipsos’ Edinburgh telephone team can set up an appointment. As a thank you for taking part, we will make a £10 charity donation on your behalf.

 

Ipsos is working with Perspective Economics and the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast on this important study, which is also endorsed by techUK and UKC3.

 

Find out more, including Ipsos’ privacy notice, on the GOV.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-cyber-security-sectoral-analysis-survey.

Cyber Wales is an ECSO Qualified Issuer

Published: 01 November 2020

Cyber Wales is very proud to be the only Qualified Issuer of the coveted "Cybersecurity Made in Europe" label in the UK. This new initiative from the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) was launched in July 2020 and Cyber Wales are one of 11 founding Partners including cyber ecosystems from Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Finland and Bulgaria.

The key purpose of the Label 'Cybersecurity Made in Europe' is to serve as an industry-driven marketing instrument to promote qualified European-based cybersecurity companies and increase their commercial exposure far beyond their traditional home markets. European cybersecurity companies from the European Union Member States (EU27), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, as well as the United Kingdom (UK) will be eligible to apply for the Label.

More information about how cybersecurity companies in the UK can apply for this can be found here.

Join Now

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