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To meet the challenges of secure networking in the age of AI, a new research centre will upskill ‘industry-conscious thinkers and leaders’ to develop future tech.
Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Surrey have together received £8m in funding from the UK government to establish a new Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Open Secure Networks (FORT).
The aim of the centre is to train a workforce capable of delivering secure networks of the future.
In an era of rapidly advancing communications technologies, the next generation of workers needs to be skilled in cybersecurity, wireless technologies, networking and artificial intelligence.
Over the next eight years, the FORT centre aims to train more than 50 postgraduate researchers in this area. It will be housed in the University of Surrey’s 5G/6G Innovation Centre and in Queen’s University’s Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT).
“We aim to create a community of 50 PhDs who will become the future, industry-conscious thinkers and leaders on secure, trustworthy and autonomous future network communications,” said Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon, co-director of FORT and research director of secure intelligence at CSIT.
Alongside funding from the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the centre is also supported by 21 industry partners, including Amazon Web Services, Ericsson, HP, Intel, Kyndryl, Nvidia and Qualcomm.
Principal investigator with FORT, Prof Rahim Tafazolli, who is director of Surrey’s 5G/6G Innovation Centre, said the centre was established to keep pace with “a world evolving at breakneck speed”.
“We’re committed to nurturing future visionaries and leaders with in-depth knowledge of advanced space and terrestrial networks, environmental considerations and AI technology,” Tafazolli said.
“The UK’s focus must now shift towards upskilling individuals capable of addressing the cybersecurity challenges posed by AI and take advantage of opportunities presented by societal shifts, environmental concerns and industrial advancements.”
Alongside Dr Jesus Martinez del Rincon and Prof Rahim Tafazolli, the FORT leadership team includes Dr Tim Brown from Surrey as director and Prof Máire O’Neill, who is director of CSIT, as co-investigator.
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