The Tech Valleys project has the bold aim of attracting investment and creating opportunities for the region.
The scheme is particularly keen to attract businesses and jobs in the areas of 5G, battery technology, digital and cyber research and application.
The £100m, 10-year programme was announced by the Welsh Government in 2017, and the programme, which is focusing on the area of Blaenau Gwent, has already created 100,000 sq ft of new and refurbished commercial, start-up and industrial floor-space.
Following Blaenau Gwent’s significance to the first industrial revolution, with coal mining, iron and steel making dominating for 150 years, the programme is now aiming to help the region embrace the technologies of the future.
In some areas, such as Rhyd-y-Blew, where it would not be possible for private businesses to take on the development of former open-cast and deep mine workings, the Welsh Government is investing to help bring this land in to use.
It is plugging businesses and residents into the most advanced 5G network in the 海角视频, and offering a Business Productivity Enhancement Programme in collaboration with the Welsh Government’s European Funded SMART Innovation programme, with recipients so far including Advanced Furniture, Express Contract Drying, and Swan EMS.
Launched just before the pandemic, the Business Productivity Enhancement Programme is working with manufacturing firms to increase efficiency, develop new products and explore new markets.
Advanced Furniture operations director Geraint Griffiths said: “Advanced Furniture will be able to quickly and efficiently bring new products to the market place through a new computer aided design and manufacturing package.”
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Nick Ball, operations director with Express Contract Drying, said: “This grant supports our plan to adopt technology specifically designed to better manage our business processes in an integrated and real-time manner, reducing duplicating in capturing and management of data leading to increase efficiency and traceability. This enterprise resource planning system is a key investment in our company’s operations, efficiency, intelligence, and productivity, which will strengthen our existing business and support further business expansion in coming years.”
Despite the pandemic, the Tech Valleys programme has already made commitments of more than £22m.
The programme also announced its first major new piece of business, with French multinational Thales Group, a company that employs some 80,000 people worldwide, bringing a contract with one of the world’s leading power companies, GE Steam Power to Ebbw Vale to deliver a suite of cybersecurity solutions to power plant operators.
Tech Valleys funding is also helping schools work with local businesses to raise awareness of careers in STEM-related areas by real-life experiences. Last year also saw the launch of Cyber College, a collaboration between corporate giants Admiral and Fujitsu in partnership with Coleg Gwent and Bridgend College, with both colleges receiving Gold Awards from the National Cyber Security Centre under their Cyber First programme.
The development of the Dennison Advanced Materials Centre brought a state-of-the-art engineering training facility to the Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone, as one of only a handful of FE colleges in the 海角视频 that can provide advanced composite training, in contrast to more traditional materials, as part of its Aeronautical and Motorsport Engineering courses. The Centre is working hard to attract more applications from females, and is encouraged that numbers are increasing.
The Welsh Government has recently secured a grant of up to £5m from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to deliver a two-year demonstrator 5G project as part of the 5G Testbed & Trials programme. This will bring 5G to the region about five years before the market might otherwise be able to provide it, and ultimately also deliver a 5G bubble over parts of Ebbw Vale. 98% of premises now have access to superfast broadband.
The centrepiece of the Tech Valleys programme involves magnet company Thales as co-investor with Welsh Government in the new £20m National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC), a world class cyber centre and technology hub founded in 2019 at The Works on the site of the former steel mill in Ebbw Vale.
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It is the first R&D facility of its kind in Wales, where SMEs and microbusinesses can test and develop their digital concepts. Through the NDEC, £1m has already been injected into the local economy, with 20 of its 53 local suppliers based in Ebbw Vale, and employing over 90 per cent of its start-up staff from the local area.
Thales is one of the world’s leaders in technology installation for brands such as Xbox and PlayStation, Apple and Android pay. The NDEC will act as a cornerstone of Thales’ cyber security capabilities in the 海角视频.
The NDEC is delivered by Thales in collaboration with strategic partner, the University of South Wales (USW), who run an Advanced Cyber Institute at the Centre, a base for major academic research, and a Digital Education Centre. The NDEC’s mission is to deliver advanced R&D, engage local people through education outreach, and open up cyber trust expertise for major employers and small businesses in Wales.
Victor Chavez, chief executive of Thales 海角视频 has said: “We see Wales and the National Digital Exploitation Centre in particular, as a vital part of Thales’s growing presence in the 海角视频.
“The NDEC is critical to developing digital security capabilities to bring both national and international work to Ebbw Vale. These skills are at the heart of securing critical Operational Technology systems such as those being developed by GE Steam Power to ensure resilience in today’s cyber environment.
“NDEC is a unique facility for Wales and we intend to make the most of this innovative partnership between government, industry and academia.”
And the NDEC is working on some very real scenarios.
“We’re exploring how we can use digital twins for cyber security purposes, so you can have a simulation or a synthetic version of a power station, for example, and you can apply cyber threats to that simulation to understand what the impact would be”, said Gareth Williams, VP Secure Communications & Information Systems at Thales Group.
Thales research shows that up to 10% of cyber attacks on operations like power plants are led by highly effective threat actors, whether state-sponsored or cyber criminals.
Mr Williams works with Welsh Government to showcase the NDEC model to countries across the world.
A key NDEC focus is to attract more talent into the cyber sector.
“Cyber is a sector that is short of talent throughout the 海角视频”, said Mr Williams.
“We need to make young people aware of the opportunities in cyber and technology. Our education programme covers everything from primary school through to higher education to show how a career in cyber looks, and demonstrate the breadth of cyber skills required.
“We’re bringing roles in technology alive through collaboration with the likes of USW, Coleg Gwent and Bridgend College. We also need to speed up the process of training and also reskilling, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
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Kirsty Perrett is from the area, and works with Thales as a PhD research student in cyber security at USW.
“A key pillar for NDEC is protecting our critical national infrastructure and operational technology”, said Ms Perrett.
“Many of these systems support critical services that enable us to go about our daily lives, such as transport, emergency services, water, energy and health – systems that keep our trains safe, our power stations running, allow us to do our banking online, and topically and importantly, protect our NHS from hackers.”
The NDEC is also investing in local SMEs, to engage and support their digital transformation journeys and help them win commercial projects.
The Fast Growth 50 alumnus Motion Rail, a specialist telecoms company, has won them a raft of national awards.
Founder and CEO Emma Dymond won the 2020 Women in Rail Inspirational Women of the Year award, and said: “We developed Motion Reality, the first virtual reality railway using gamification as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy in collaboration with the University of South Wales - we are the only company to bring the railway to communities, providing a safe and real-life educational experience with a difference.
“It was because of this, Motion Rail was being recognised for the right reasons, which led to securing more rail telecoms work across the country with Network Rail, and London Underground.”