Dr Ismini Vasileiou has been appointed as Co-Chair of national cluster umbrella organisation UKC3.

The East Midlands Cyber Cluster founder will lead the national organisation alongside Simon Newman, the co-founder of Cyber London.

Dr Vasileiou initially joined the national board in November 2024 as Director and Future Workforce Lead.

Speaking at the time, then UKC3 Chair, Linda Smith, said: “Over the next year, our priority is to consolidate the rapid growth experienced since inception in 2021, and continue to grow and reinforce the guidance and support we have been able to provide so far. 

“Ismini’s experience running East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster, as well as her academic insight, will be instrumental in helping us achieve this.”

As well as her involvement with EMCSC and UKC3, Dr Vasileiou is associate professor at De Montfort University (DMU) Leicester.

She said: “I’m honoured to be invited to serve as Co-Chair at UKC3 and excited about collaborating with colleagues across the UK to drive forward innovation, skills development, and regional growth in the cyber sector.”

UKC3 is the UK’s central hub connecting cyber clusters across the regions.

Its purpose is to foster collaboration between smaller hubs, empowering them to share knowledge, invest in projects, and support the start-up clusters as they establish.