UK government shares draft Industrial Strategy ‘Invest 2035’

The UK government’s draft industrial strategy, “Invest 2035”, is a comprehensive 10-year plan aimed at fostering long-term, inclusive, secure, and sustainable growth.

It sets out a number of objectives that NCC Group believes are relevant to, and should be underpinned by, the UK’s world-leading cyber security industry.  For example: 

• The strategy commits to accelerating the adoption and scale-up of innovative technologies across eight key growth sectors. NCC Group believes that this should include innovative cybersecurity solutions as well as ensuring that all emerging technologies are secure by design. 

• The draft strategy sets out to reduce supply chain and other vulnerabilities in growth-driving sectors which could harm their long-term growth. NCC Group believes that a core element of this will have to be strengthened cyber resilience to safeguard against digital threats. 

• The strategy emphasises the importance in investing in skills and training to enable workers to handle future challenges. NCC Group believes that by educating everyone about cyber security, the UK can better protect itself and take full advantage of future technological advancements.

The strategy is currently open for public consultation, inviting input from businesses, experts, unions, and other stakeholders to refine and improve the plan before its final publication in spring 2025.

Matt Thomas, SVP of UK Markets comments:

“We are delighted to see that building a secure and resilient economy is at the heart of the UK Government’s draft Industrial Strategy. Key to this will be building national cyber resilience.

“Not only is strong digital security a prerequisite for growth, but the cyber industry is a growth sector in its own right, now worth £18.4billion to the UK economy. But, with a long-trailed skills gap and outdated cyber laws, the industry is not without its challenges.

“The development of a new Industrial Strategy presents an excellent opportunity for Government and industry to work together to tackle these challenges, unleash growth, and, ultimately, support even more organisations to be safe and secure online. We look forward to partnering with Government in the months ahead.”