And so 2020 begins, the start of a new decade. The previous decade delivered huge advances in technology and cyber security went from being something the IT department (or one security guy in most cases!) worried about to becoming a companywide brand and business continuity concern. As we move further to a digital economy the ability to protect and control the use of our data will become more and more essential – allowing individuals and business to continue with their business and personal lives with trust, privacy and certainty of their online interactions be it email, apps, social media etc. Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go in ensuring companies are focussing sufficient resources and budgets on ethical and secure data protection. California recent Consumer Privacy Act will no doubt be the first of many US states to implement regulation in this area and will hopefully force the US companies to align to higher standards following in the EU footsteps.
As my last post talked about what I have been up to I wanted to focus this one more on opportunities for cyber security companies in Scotland. There are many areas of support for start-ups and scale-ups but the ones I wanted to highlight in particular (due to dates pending) are the following:
⁃ Wayra AI and Blockchain accelerator – not specific to cyber but open to any company with an AI or blockchain element. Entries need to be in by January 15th!
⁃ RBS Entrepreneur Accelerator – based at St Andrews square (recently relocated from Gogarburn) successful applicants will receive from 6 to 18 months of free support including office space and coaching. Applications now open, closing end of Feb. Programme starts in April for successful candidates
⁃ Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) CyberASP – applications opening soon but register you interest now. Must be affiliated with an academic institution.
I also wanted to remind everyone of the tech survey that ScotlandIS are running currently. This is an annual survey which allows us to benchmark Scotland’s focus on technology including cyber security and data. The survey is open until end of January but please complete now so you don’t miss the deadline – won’t take you any more than 10minutes!
And my last call of action is for Cyber Scotland week which is running on the week of the 17th February, we would love everyone to get involved whether attending one of the many events, running your own or both! Please register your events at on the Cyber Scotland Week website.
I do also want to take this opportunity to highlight our cluster member launch event. It is a joint cyber and data cluster event and is open to all companies working in either of these fields in Scotland. We have a number of very exciting speakers lined up – details to follow soon but keep the date free – 30th January 9am to 2pm, Oracle Campus, Linlithgow.
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2020, may it be a safe and secure one!