The UK and EU face a defining problem—and alternative—as they chart their digital financial futures. How can we unlock the complete worth of transformative applied sciences like AI, quantum computing, and cloud infrastructure whereas managing the rising tide of cyber threats?
The reply lies not in selecting between innovation and regulation, however in reimagining cybersecurity coverage as a strategic lever for financial progress.
Today, trust in digital systems is a prerequisite for digital transformation. From small businesses to multinational firms, no organization can scale without confidence in the security of its infrastructure.
However, trust doesn’t emerge on its own—it’s built through smart, risk-informed policy. That’s why cybersecurity must be at the center of economic strategy, not an afterthought to it.
VP of Global Government Affairs and Public Policy at Rapid7.
Growing recognition
Across the UK and Europe, there’s growing recognition of this link. For example, the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill positions cyber readiness as a core part of economic resilience. The EU’s cybersecurity policies also explicitly supports digital skills, market development, and cross-border data flows.
But to truly crystalize this moment, a clearer statement of how these policies are being designed to meet the moment is needed from government officials.
I recently attended the RSA Conference in the US and then travelled across both the UK and EU. Speaking with a variety of policymakers in different regions reminded me of the need we have to focus on partnerships, procurement and pivot in our cyber policy frameworks. I call these the “three Ps.”
Partnerships – Getting governments and the private sector on the same side of the table
High profile attacks such as those on the NHS, retailers and TfL over the past year have really brought into focus the impact cyberattacks can have on the wider population, and how fragile our digital systems are.
Cyber threats and how cyber policy can protect AI, cloud systems, and critical infrastructure were among the top concerns in every conversation I had with government stakeholders across the UK and EU.
To deliver cyber policy, however, governments and industry must sit on the same side of the table, working together to reduce systemic risk; cybersecurity cannot be delivered top-down. This means moving beyond passive compliance checklists toward dynamic, data-driven collaboration.
Private sector companies typically possess superior technological capabilities and collect huge quantities of information via their day by day operations, providing invaluable insights into rising cyber threats.
Government companies, then again, carry a broader geopolitical and strategic understanding that helps interpret personal sector information throughout the context of nationwide and worldwide safety threats.
Bringing the federal government’s geopolitical context and regulatory levers along with the personal sector’s technical capabilities and real-time intelligence, creates far simpler insurance policies and sooner risk responses.
Governments have to transcend self-attested greatest practices and design partnerships that actively analyze the information gathered to establish which behaviors and deterrents truly work inside a nation’s distinctive danger setting.
For small and medium-sized companies particularly, clear, sensible steerage formed in collaboration is usually the distinction between resilience and danger publicity.
Some governments are doing higher than others in recognizing the power to translate advanced coverage targets into actionable, plain-speak directives, however this wants extra intentional thought and design.
Procurement – Building success for the future
Economic growth will continue to increasingly depend upon digital infrastructure. For example, the UK government announced this year the AI Opportunities Action Plan and a £121 million investment boost for quantum technology. At the core of both announcements was how AI and quantum support the government’s economic mission.
Cybersecurity also plays a foundational role in the creation of resilient economic strategies. However, similar to intelligence sharing between the public and private sectors, the two parties often develop capabilities in silos that don’t work together. This leads to gaps in terms of the capabilities governments need and the solutions available to them on the market.
Cyber policy should guide how governments buy, fund, and signal the technologies they want to see in the market. This essentially means thinking about how the systems you build today will support success tomorrow.
We’re seeing governments improve in this area. For example, the NCSC’s guidance on post-quantum cryptography is a great example of future-focused leadership. While we don’t yet know when the “quantum year” will arrive, it’s encouraging to see progress and growing awareness that organizations need to be ready.
However, this alone is not enough. More incentives are needed to signal this as a priority for the private sector. Remember, procurement isn’t just a back-office function—it’s an economic strategy.
Research and Development (R&D) projects are an effective way to encourage collaboration and build momentum, and this is particularly needed in AI.
Britain, for instance, has some of the best universities and R&D centers in the world but loses talent to better-funded AI hubs. Governments have to create a long-term AI skills and R&D strategy that not only develops expertise but retains it.
Pivot! Pivot! Pivot!
In many of my conversations, stakeholders repeatedly used the word “pivot.” I was intrigued as to why this word came up so often. When pressed, I learned that what they really meant was “review.”
This is because not all regulations age well. You just have to look at the growing calls to review the Computer Misuse Act, for example. There’s a growing recognition among the UK and EU that some aspects of tech policy and investment need reviewing.
Some cybersecurity rules, though well-intentioned, may add a compliance burden—which in itself is a risk—without reducing actual cyber or business risk. Software misconfigurations, third-party provide chain dangers, and rising threats are usually not all the time addressed by the ever-growing complexity of overlapping rules and guidelines designed to handle cyber danger.
This isn’t significantly new—we’ve lengthy debated the stability between regulation and constructing trusted partnerships. While we need to open new frontiers for funding and innovation, it shouldn’t come on the expense of public belief.
However, this age-old argument is beginning to shift. There’s better recognition that the easiest way to keep up public belief isn’t essentially via common rules, however via thought-about trade-offs.
Policymakers have to be prepared to pivot—reviewing what’s working, sunsetting what isn’t, and designing regulation that’s adaptive, risk-based, and innovation-friendly.
The secret is stability. Governments have to bear in mind the general objective of coverage: understanding the safety of methods, minimizing the impression on resilience, and making certain long-term financial progress.
Cyber is at the forefront of policy
Although I’ve had many different conversations with decision-makers, what struck me most was that security is no longer an afterthought, it’s now a central focus for governments.
From a private sector standpoint, cybersecurity is no longer a cost of doing business—it’s a condition for doing business. And it’s a competitive advantage waiting to be seized.
If the UK and EU want to continue enabling the next era of digital growth, they must address cybersecurity policies as a suite of policies that enable economic growth, focusing on partnerships and procurement, and having the courage to pivot when necessary.
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