UK Parliament readies cyber security change programme

The UK Parliament is looking for a supplier to help run a cyber capability change programme due to start in early 2020.

A request for information has been published to find a consultancy services company to support the project, which will encompass cyber security-related change, operations and skills.

According to the notice, Parliament wants a partner that can help deliver “behavioural and cultural change”, as well as define a “target operating model review and validation for delivery” of cyber programmes, while building a “workforce-management strategy for maintenance, development and retention of cyber-capable personnel”.

When it comes to expected timescales, the notice stated that the cyber capability programme will be delivered under a phased approach and is expected to complete within 24 months.

Potential partners are expected to fill out a questionnaire until 14 October 2019. The responses will be used to guide the full procurement process and support the definition of additional requirements.

“The aim of this exercise is to provide a greater awareness of consultancy solutions that currently exist in the marketplace and to enable Parliament to see if its ambitions to deliver broader cyber capability and cultural change can be supported by an external provider,” the notice stated.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are also being encouraged to submit responses to the initial exercise.

The government’s approach to cyber security has been described as “chaotic” by Shadow Cabinet Office minister Jo Platt, who has said the UK’s cyber security measures “entrust the private sector to close the gaps without even a carrot or a stick”.

“To put it simply, it too often asks private companies to find the solution to a public good,” said Platt.