Blackburn with Darwen Council is partnering with IN4 to establish an impressive new programme that will nurture over 600 pupils and mentor 50 scholarship students each year across the borough to help them secure the best digital technology careers.
‘MEGA (motivated, educated generation with ambition) Hub’ builds on the huge success of IN4’s major North West and West Midlands CyberFirst contracts with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ.
Blackburn with Darwen Council, IN4 Group and its partners IBM, Northrop Grumman, KPMG UK, QinetiQ, CGI, Roke, and BT are committing more than £300k per annum into the MEGA Hub, with a plan to increase the investment in the coming years.
The new pilot was announced by the Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, Councillor Phil Riley, and the CEO of IN4 Group and Blackburn entrepreneur Mo Isap at a CyberFirst celebration event for schools and colleges across the North West.
Speaking about the MEGA Hub pilot, IN4 Group CEO Mo Isap said:
“It’s a moment of great pride that I have the ability to further invest in my hometown, specifically to support our talented young people who have the potential to be great but due to disadvantage, deprivation and discrimination end up being average at best.
“We grew up not knowing we had started life in the second-class carriage. My aim is to ensure all our young people belong in the first-class carriage of the technology express, which will take them to incredible destinations and, in doing so, make our borough great again in the 4th Industrial Revolution as it was in the 1st one.
“This will lay the foundations for the MEGA Hub model as we aim to nurture and unlock talent in our local authority regions through collaboration and co-investment across public and private sector partnerships.”
The CyberFirst and MEGA Hub programmes link closely to the government’s investment of more than £5 billion in its new National Cyber Force in neighbouring Samlesbury and will help meet the need for a highly skilled digital workforce in the emerging North West Cyber Corridor.
Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:
“As a Council, we are absolutely committed to the notion that no one in our borough should be left behind, and this is a shining example of that.
“We are determined to inspire our young people – we want to show them the opportunities that are available and make sure they have the skills to give them the very best chance to succeed in life.
“We want to help open their eyes to the different careers available in digital and technology, especially with the re-location of the National Cyber Force to Salmesbury.
“The CyberFirst programme has already seen incredible results, and we’re really pleased to have been able to work closely with Mo and his fantastic team to bring this first-of-its-kind pilot to Blackburn with Darwen with investment for businesses to follow, too.
“Every single secondary right across the borough will take part, with more than 600 pupils benefitting. These are pupils who may have never even thought of a career in digital but will get a chance to work with some of the best in the business.”
The MEGA hub incorporates a KS3 and KS4 technology enrichment programme that operates as an extension to the school timetable. The programme combines CyberFirst, Esports Academy, Play AI, and IBM Skills Build with hackathons, competitions, entrepreneurship, and tech careers education.
Fifty Scholarships will be awarded to 16-year-olds starting sixth form or a Level 4 qualification, with a £1000 student bursary.
The Scholarships will provide mentoring, industry placements, and professional technology certifications in generative AI, cloud, and cyber with AWS, Microsoft, and Google.
Each scholarship student will gain access and dedicated support to secure the best technology degree apprenticeships or university places.
Three schools, including Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School and Sixth Form College (TIGHS), Blackburn Central, Pleckgate, and Blackburn College, are already CyberFirst accredited – the MEGA Hub will now work to ensure the same for the remaining secondary schools in the borough.
Figures show that digital and technology careers are growing, with 30,000 jobs – an extra 18,000 – in cyber expected by 2035 in the North West alone.
Currently, only 21% of those choosing Computer Science in schools are girls, and only 25% of cyber professionals are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
MEGA Hub aims to support able and talented pupils in achieving their potential – despite any disadvantages they face.
