Scotland’s cybersecurity sector is going from strength to strength according to a new report from Scotland’s tech trade body.
ScotlandIS has published its Scottish Cyber Cluster Report ahead of Cyber Scotland Week from 22nd-28th February 2021, which will showcase business, educational and third sector activity.
The report finds that Scotland is an internationally recognised hub for cyber and tech skills and highlights how Scotland has a thriving and innovative cyber security community with around 230 companies currently operating.
‘What was once a niche area within the tech industry, is now integral to everyone and everything as we move towards a more digitally enabled society,’ the membership and cluster management organisation for the digital technologies industry in Scotland said.
Key findings from the report include:
- The Scottish cyber cluster currently includes around 230 cyber security companies, nearly half of which are Scottish founded companies, or a company headquartered in Scotland.
- In each of the past five years around 10 new Scottish cyber companies per year have been set-up.
- Over half of the sector is made up of SMEs or early stage start-ups.
- Inward investment into Scotland remains strong too, with more and more global cyber security companies choosing to establish in the country.
University spin-outs remain an important source of growth, including recent spin outs of Lupovis, which is a spin out from Strathclyde, PRC from Glasgow University and Napier University spin out, Memcrypt. While most of the Scottish scene is made up of relatively small companies, 20% of the cyber cluster are larger corporations.
Ciara Mitchell, Head of Cyber at ScotlandIS, said: “Scotland’s cyber sector continues to go from strength to strength. This report demonstrates that Scotland has real strength in depth, with companies ranging from small start-ups to large corporates.
“As well as attracting inward investment from the likes of Cisco and Corero, there’s a wide range of high-growth home-made businesses that are starting to attract a lot of attention. University start-ups are a great source of new business growth and it’s important that these companies are supported.
“The sector is delivering well-paid jobs and providing much-needed employment. However, with Scotland lagging a little behind other parts of the UK in attracting investment in our cyber sector, there’s still work to be done.” The Scottish Cyber Cluster Analysis Report can be found here.