Cyber Innovation Challenge 2021-2022

In January 2022, the City of London Corporation and Microsoft launched a new Cyber Innovation Challenge supporting tech development in the face of evolving digital threats. As with previous activities hosted on the Digital Sandbox platform, the primary aim of the Challenge was to foster collaboration between technology companies and broader industry partners. Specifically, the Challenge was designed to:

• Cut across silos between traditional sectors and revitalise the ecosystem.
• Challenge organisations to work together on defining and solving a widespread problem statement; and
• Use the opportunities afforded by the Challenge, including the Digital Sandbox platform, to accelerate tech development so that it is market ready.

Prior to launch, workshops were held with individuals representing financial services institutions as well as the City of London Police. These workshops were designed to identify a topic within the theme of cyber security where there was a joint interest across those involved in developing technology solutions. A use case was agreed in February 2022 to focus on developing solutions to assess and actively monitor the cyber security risks across the supply chain whilst also highlighting steps that can be taken to respond to any emerging threats.

Following publication of the use case, an open application process was held to bring in technology companies to participate in the Challenge. Five companies were selected to join the Challenge – Risk Ledger, Orpheus Cyber, CyNation, arx Partners and Conatix. They were partnered with three financial services institutions including Hiscox and Nationwide.

The tech companies and financial services institutions then took part in a six-week sprint during March/April 2022. The sprint comprised of themed weekly meetings to explore the solutions and how they could be developed to better meet the needs of the financial services sector. Themes covered included exploration into the user perspective and interface requirements, data or database requirements and product security. The tech companies also took part in group collaboration sessions to provide them with further insights from across the cyber security eco-system. These included sessions with UK Finance, Osney Capital, London & Partners, Department for International Trade, Microsoft and City of London Police.

The Challenge culminated in a final presentation session bringing together all the participants. This provided the technology companies with a chance to present their solutions and explain how they had developed due to participating in the Challenge. All those involved in the Challenge were also invited to participate in a public Showcase demonstrating the activity carried out within the Challenge, a deep dive into the use case and presentation of the solutions.

For further information about this Challenge or to register your interest for any future challenges please contact TechInnovationTeam@cityoflondon.gov.uk