Regional cyber-cluster mapping and talent activation for the South of England using AI
Mapping and activating the Hampshire & Sussex cyber cluster with AI.
The Challenge
The cyber security sector across Hampshire and Sussex is diverse but fragmented: over 50 entities span rail, healthcare, energy and defence (NATS, BAE Systems, Roke, Southern Water and others), yet the region has lacked a systematic picture of its cyber companies, skills demand and talent supply. Employers struggle to find candidates, candidates struggle to find routes into cyber roles, and cluster bodies like HANDS C3 (the Hampshire and Sussex Cyber Cluster, part of UK Cyber Cluster Collaboration, launched 2025) need reliable intelligence to target growth interventions.
The Solution
CyberMap South addresses this with NquiringMinds as technical lead and the Deep Tech Research Institute as lead organisation and HANDS C3 operational hub. NQM is building an “AI Intelligence Engine” (WP1) — LLM integration, a Companies House data pipeline, web-search tooling and a human-validation framework — to map the regional cyber ecosystem, and the cluster platform (WP3): a candidate–employer matching algorithm, employer/candidate portal, fractional-marketplace tooling and an outcome dashboard.
Outcomes
The platform builds on HANDS C3’s existing “Dragons’ Den” employer-engagement programme, turning cluster mapping into a talent-activation model: validated intelligence about who the region’s cyber employers are and what they need, matched algorithmically against candidates, with outcomes tracked on a dashboard for the cluster and its stakeholders.
Features
LLM-driven identification and profiling of regional cyber companies from Companies House and open web data.
Human-validation framework ensuring AI-generated cluster intelligence is verified before publication.
Candidate–employer matching algorithm for cyber talent activation.
Employer and candidate portal with fractional-marketplace tooling (flexible/part-time cyber expertise).
Outcome dashboard tracking cluster growth and placement outcomes.
Combines automated LLM ecosystem mapping with an operational talent marketplace, anchored in an active UKC3 cluster (HANDS C3).
Benefits
A validated, continuously updatable map of the Hampshire & Sussex cyber ecosystem for cluster planning (projected — project active).
Faster, better-matched cyber hiring and fractional engagements for regional employers and candidates (projected).
Strengthened regional cyber cluster supporting UKC3 ambitions to grow the UK's cyber sector outside London (projected).
