In the current environment, with the level of online work and working from home having risen by orders of magnitude due to the pandemic, it is extremely important that cyber security is invested in and made a priority. In this regard, it is encouraging to see that the UK government has set up dedicated centers to work on digital safety, and it is also investing the money needed to ensure that these are effective. An online safety centre of excellence and six research projects, to be conducted all over the country, are just some of the initiatives taking place under this investment by the government.

UK Research and Innovation is investing £29 million into these initiatives, which also includes £7 million from UKRI’s Strategic Priorities Fund, towards a new National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence online (REPHRAIN), where researchers from the universities of Bristol, Bath, Edinburgh, King’s College London and UCL will work together. REPHRAIN will also work with industries and the academic sector to develop technology which can help moderators track disinformation online, as well as identify scams and fraud attempts on social media and elsewhere. In this context, it is extremely important that users, in general, do not divulge sensitive and important financial and personal information online, as these can these easily be used to gain unlawful access to bank accounts and other personal accounts. This is especially important on gambling sites and other online mediums where money may need to change hands, so users should be sure that the site that they are using to play real money games is reputed and can be trusted with their information.

As part of this program, the researchers will also be developing a Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET) test site, the first of its kind in the world, where new ways to enhance data privacy will be tested. The UK government’s efforts in this area are with a view to protect and support the growing technology sector in the country, with automated content moderation, in order to identify online scams and fake news, as well as making sure that content is age-appropriate, again through such automated tools, are just two of the ways in which immediate solutions to problems are being sought. UKRI is also investing £22 million in five Next Stage Digital Economy Centres, which will be delivered by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Some of the projects that these centres are working on include – 

CAMERA 2.0, which is led by the University of Bath, where 3D cameras will be used in conjunction with AI to improve public healthcare, and deliver training programs in virtual environments which can then be seamlessly transferred to the real world. For example, users can use the virtual environment to enhance their motor skills, which can then be used to improve their performance in elite sports such as tennis and football.

A project led by the Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, where the Centre for Digital Centres will design digital services and technologies to promote smarter living, by using public data to make better decisions on healthcare, education and community engagement.

The Horizon Institute, led by the University of Nottingham, will try and improve consumer trust around the use of personal data by new online services and technologies. It will also look to use that data in settings which blend physical and digital spaces, and then use the findings to make better predictions about health and other parameters.

These are just a few of the projects that will soon be underway all across the UK, and all of the work being done in this space is sure to benefit the public in one way or the other in the near future.