Dr Ismini Vasileiou will travel to Liverpool as a guest of the Cybersecurity Business Network (CBN), which serves as the secretariat for the APPG for Cyber Innovation.

The CBN and Health Tech Alliance (HTA) are jointly hosting the cyber x health roundtable at Labour Party Conference on Monday night.

The round table will bring together parliamentarians, health leaders, and cyber experts to discuss how they can work together to ensure our health system remains resilient and secure, and how Government can most effectively capitalise on the depth and breadth of knowledge available within the UK’s cyber industry.

The event comes after the APPG backed Dr Vasileiou’s recent White Paper warning that existing systems for training the skilled professionals needed to secure the UK’s cyber data were no longer fit for purpose.

The White Paper – published by EMCSC with the support of the APPG, UKC3, and De Montfort University Leicester – describes how Government intervention is urgently needed to build the inclusive and sustainable cyber workforce of the future. 

Reform of existing systems is required as the UK’s digital economy is growing rapidly and is central to the Industrial Strategy 2030 – yet cybersecurity remains one of the UK’s greatest skills challenges of the age.

Recent high-profile cyber attacks on major UK brands show the potential consequences as businesses are targeted by increasingly organised groups of hackers.

Dr Vasileiou said: “The White Paper warns that the UK’s fragmented cyber education and training system is leaving the country dangerously exposed.

“We are really grateful for the support of our partners in getting this important message out there and giving us further opportunities to make the case to Government.

“I’m looking forward to joining colleagues from the CBN during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool so we can keep building momentum on this critical policy issue.”

Dan Aldridge MP, Chair, APPG for Cyber Innovation, previously said: “Building a resilient and digitally capable workforce is fundamental to our country’s economy, and future workforce.

“As members of Parliament, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to develop cyber skills matters to keep our constituents and local businesses safe. 

“Without such a foundation, we risk perpetuating the very gaps we are striving to close, and undermining the government’s mission of sustainable digital transformation.”

The White Paper, which can be read in full here, recommends that Government should:

1. Establish a DSIT-led taskforce to co-create a UK Cyber Skills Taxonomy
2. Establish a national delivery body to govern the taxonomy
3. Incentivise employer adoption of standardised, skills-based recruitment
4. Align education and career pathways to real-world cyber roles
5. Scale regional skills alignment through a National Implementation Framework.

Following a soft launch earlier this summer, the White Paper will be officially launched in Westminster later this year, supported by the APPG and other industry partners.