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National workforces and skills development

Digital resilience is reaching an inflection point; nations are being faced with rapidly evolving threats at the same time as a global skills shortage. Nation-states and organisations are under pressure to produce skilled workers who are capable of responding to increasingly sophisticated threats.

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Confronting the skills shortage

The predicament of a worldwide shortage of appropriately skilled digital-threat professionals is dangerous to critical functions and national daily life. At a nation-state level, departments and agencies are trying to address both short-term needs and long term future-proofing of skills. Creating effective workforce and skills frameworks is the answer, so long as they:

  • Define – and prioritise – national and regional requirements
  • Ensure interoperability with other nations and bodies
  • Span the range of skills requirements
  • Evolve with the threat landscape

Accomplishing these complex tasks is now mission-critical: global digitalisation demands that nations invest rapidly in sustainable threat resilience – an even greater challenge for jurisdictions with limited resources and less mature capability.

Practical solutions that optimise resources

We work closely with national stakeholders to design future-focused workforce frameworks that stand the test of time. Our collaborative and practical approach helps countries to precisely define and prioritise their requirements so they can build capability efficiently, optimising limited resources.

We assist nations around the world in developing curricula, career pathways and accreditations. We design and build national cyber security academies, Security Operations Centres (SOCs), Cyber Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs), social-media monitoring desks and counter-hostile threat units.
Observe and prioritise

We assess existing national capabilities to understand what actions are required to develop a workforce with the both hard (technical) and soft (people) skills to mitigate digital threat.

Collaborate and design

Working closely with national (and where appropriate, regional) stakeholders, we use an accurate picture of the local context—including our client’s vision for managing digital threat—to design clear future-focused responses.

Build and support

We craft interventions that are sustainable beyond our inception, that map to and stimulate the local economy, and provide the level and quality of skills required nationally.

A truly client-centred approach

PGI has worked in 80 geographies across six continents, writing national workforce frameworks that follow and inform international best practice.


We listen carefully to clients, creating targeted plans that comprise the most effective interventions. Our work is always informed by a country’s national strategic direction, ensuring suitability and long-term sustainability.

We have also established an international reputation as a provider of high-quality, bespoke UK Government-approved training, developing workforces in line with international recommendations. To date, we have trained individuals from over 40 countries in disciplines spanning cyber risk, digital resilience, cyber security standards, threat intelligence and incident response.

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Case Study: National Cybersecurity Skills Framework and Training Programme

As part of a multi-year international programme, PGI designed and implemented a national cybersecurity skills framework and training for a government in the Middle East. The training comprised more than 30 technical and non-technical courses at entry, intermediate and advanced levels, including:

- network security
- security fundamentals
- SOC analyst skills
- cyber threat intelligence
- incident response.

The courses were mapped to the PGI-designed national cybersecurity skills framework. They included pre- and post-course exams that were benchmarked against international certifications such as CREST. Training was delivered via a capability platform that included theoretical and practical cyber exercises, designed by PGI. 

Cyber Courses and Programmes

Career conversion programmes

Our career conversion training is tackling the skills gap, helping to build a sustainable cyber and information security workforce. Conversion programmes provide clients with skilled, qualified and keen cyber security practitioners. This is a cost-effective route that reskills and maintains a high-quality workforce. 

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Cyber Academy

Empowering clients to increase their staffing capacity, and manage their own security capability. Our Cyber Academy offers tailored courses to suit your needs and objectives, developing the career paths of employees. Awareness training along seen organisations reduce their digital risk by up to 80%. 

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National digital resilience capabilities

National digital resilience capabilities

Investing in digital resilience is vital to maintaining a nation’s critical functions – protecting stability and security, and supporting daily life.

PGI provides world-leading expertise in digital resilience, honed through leading more than 30 national capability development projects in over 80 countries. Our highly bespoke client-centred approach results in programmes that can keep pace with global threats and opportunities, as well as balancing national priorities and constraints.

Our agility, national expertise and technical skills helps us to deliver sustainable digital resilience across the breadth of national priority arenas.

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