CyberNorth led a collaborative charge of North East based cyber security businesses to Scotland’s leading public sector cyber resilience conference – FutureScot, as part of a trade mission hosted by our sister cluster, ScotlandIS last month.
Featuring international expertise from US cybersecurity agencies and Britain’s own National Cyber Security Centre, Cyber Security Scotland is the meeting place for global, national and regional cyber specialists to provide the latest on skills, AI, machine learning, and secure communication systems—essential tools for modernising security frameworks, enhancing threat detection, and optimising incident response.
The trade mission provided an exciting opportunity for the forward-thinking cyber businesses which included Waterstons, Traction Industries, Leading Cyber, Net-Defence and Punk Security, to showcase their innovation, talent and drive, and build relations with Scottish counterparts.
The event brought together public, private and third sector professionals committed to protecting organisations against evolving cyber threats. Delegates enjoyed an informative evening of networking and discussion at the CISO Safe Space event hosted by BJSS, Annabel Berry (Chair of CyberNorth & Co-Founder of Leading Cyber) gave a workshop on mental wellbeing in leaders of cyber security teams, with dinner and drinks following to continue conversations.
FutureScot, was held at the University of Strathclyde, and CyberNorth had a stand, all businesses were able to take part in the conference, attend talks, connect with other businesses and exhibitors and network. As well as networking with Scottish businesses and expanding opportunities across the border, our members were able to connect with each other and explore possible partnerships and future collaborations through their complementary services.
The trade mission to Scotland follows the successful trade mission to Cheltenham in 2024, the home of GCHQ (the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency).
Danielle Phillips, CEO, CyberNorth said:
“Following the feedback from the Cheltenham trade mission last year we are forging forward with our strategy to facilitate and foster an environment of collaboration and connections amongst our membership community in the North East.
It’s great to see the connections and appetite for collaborations from our trade missions and we are eager to keep this momentum. Collaboration is key and we look forward to facilitating future trade missions in the UK and internationally.”
The trade missions provide a vital source of opportunity to share good practice and to keep up to date with all the latest industry insights, the action packed programme at FutureScot enabled delegates to:
- Understand the latest strategic policy direction and active cyber defence programmes available from government.
- Learn how best-in-class cyber education and skills programmes can embed online resilience in your organisation.
- Delve into real-life cybersecurity case studies, learning how to prevent, prepare and protect your organisation from insidious threats such as ransomware.
- Connect with industry and government peers to strengthen your networks and tap into opportunities to collaborate.
- Experience the latest tips and techniques on cyber protection from cutting-edge industry masterclasses.
Danielle added:
“Trade missions provide a great opportunity to fuel cluster collaboration and open dialogue across the cyber community, and we look forward to facilitating further trade missions to the UAE and Ireland later in the year.”
CyberNorth will facilitate a trade mission to the Middle East with a visit to GISEC Global, Dubai (6th – 8th May 2025), alongside the opportunity to meet businesses through the British Ambassador’s office in Dubai: https://cybernorth.biz/event/gisec-global/
In addition to their strong regional presence, CyberNorth and ScotlandIS are both also part of UKC3, the UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration. Combined, all clusters are on a mission to facilitate collaboration and work together to increase the visibility and to elevate growth and opportunities in the cyber security sector.