Cyber Sector Team in DCMS focusing on growth, innovation and skills – Regional Leads

  • Lauren Metalle – South West
  • Daljinder Mattu – Midlands
  • Beck Mulvany – North West
  • Jennie Noble – North East & Yorkshire

Our Team and Role:

  • We are regional leads in the Cyber Sector team, with a focus on growth, innovations and skills in the Cyber Security and Digital Identity Directorate.
  • We are based in our regions and cover the South West, Midlands, North West, and North East & Yorkshire.
  • Been in roles for 10 weeks – relatively new.
  • As part of the next National Cyber Security Strategy, in relation to the ecosystem pillar – we are contributing to Levelling Up agenda, we drive growth and innovation in the UK cyber security sector, building and expanding DCMS regional reach impact/
  • We use our networks and knowledge to gather valuable insights into the reach of policy delivery, providing a bridge between local partners, stakeholders and wider government.

Our Offer:

  • Gather, analyse and communicate local intelligence data to shape and translate policy and programme design to ensure it is impactful.
  • Identify opportunities for local work within regions, to ensure better interventions and improve sustainability.
  • Troubleshoot and understand challenges, remove/ unlock blockages and connections to enhance policy and programme implementation.
  • Realtime local intelligence, your eyes and ears on the ground.
  • Translate and contextualise key departmental messages and strategic objectives including effective two-way communication with local stakeholders.
  • Horizon scanning and risk management.
  • Ministerial engagement, roundtables, sector engagement and consultations.

Key Stakeholders:

  • Regional Cyber Clusters, Cyber Resilience Centres.
  • Pan regional partnerships, Combined and Single Local Authorities and other gov bodies (Growth Hubs, LEPs, etc).
  • Charities, CIC’s Social Enterprises and Voluntary community sector organisations.
  • Private sector businesses.
  • Further and Higher Education.
  • Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research/ Education.
  • SME Hubs and trade associations
  • National Cyber Security Centre / GCHQ.

Cluster & Regional Leads – Our Shared Objectives:

  • Promoting the expertise of regions to grow cyber businesses outside London and the South East.
  • Support, amplifying and driving cyber growth and innovation across the regions.
  • Sharing and disseminating information/ knowledge and awareness of the importance of cyber security.
  • Building new and strengthening existing relationships with regional and national stakeholders and emerging influencers.
  • Ensuring cyber skills development is informed by regional priorities at a national level.
  • Support the UK’s collective effort to remain a world leader and leading cyber power.

Our Distinct Role:

  • Coordinating and developing policy to address government priorities, Growth, Innovation and Skills across our regions and directly advising Ministers.
  • Navigating Whitehall and other government departments to drive cyber action with a regional focus.
  • Mitigate problems in partnership with regional stakeholders to increase policy impact and success.
  • Promoting ‘inclusive growth’ by plugging regional gaps, removing barriers to national programmes and increasing opportunities for investment by bringing sectors together.

Working Together – avoiding duplication:

  • Regular contact and information sharing on priorities and projects.
  • Agree working practices and expectations and being clear about roles and responsibilities.
  • Two-way communication and mutual support.

Working Together – adding value:

  • Early sight of policy and programmes.
  • New opportunities to influence policy decisions.
  • Added capacity to run large events, bring people together to inform regional strategies.
  • Supporting regional stakeholders to navigate and understand Government.
  • Amplifying regional excellence and increasing understanding and support nationally.