PS23399 - Cyber Security Skills Gap in the Energy Sector

***** THIS IS AN AWARD NOTICE, NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION *****

This procurement is being concluded following a mini competition under the CCS RM3764 Cyber Security Services 3 DPS.

Brief Description of Requirement

There is a significant skills gap in the oil and upstream gas sectors when it comes to the cyber security of operational technology (OT). In a survey of energy professionals, 38% cited a lack of in-house cyber security skills as the top challenge when trying to enhance OT security. DESNZ are looking to understand and address this issue with the sector.

This work will focus on the oil and upstream gas sectors, and will review the specific skills requirements from an IT/OT perspective, and seek to deepen understanding of the gaps that exist across this sector. The output of this work will feed into other projects taking place to map skills requirements across the energy sector. The framework should outline critical roles in an organisation and identify a minimum baseline for skills requirements, mapping existing training offers to these roles and highlighting any recommendations for improvement or new training that could be developed. This framework will be a tool for industry to assess their staff cohort and determine what OT/IT skills they need.

We will provide the successful bidder with a contact list of cyber security professionals across the oil and upstream gas sector to engage with as part of the identification of needs stage. The oil and upstream gas sectors will be the focus for this work, however both general and sector-specific challenges, gaps and requirements should be drawn out with a particular focus on OT roles that require cyber knowledge.