The true value of the £480,000 Foreign Office donation is that it unlocks a further £5 million of Heritage Lottery funding. “This will allow the Trust to commence the vital restoration of historic code-breaking huts, and the creation of a world-class visitor centre and educational exhibitions,” commented Iain Standen, CEO of the Bletchley Park Trust.
The site of Alan Turing and other cryptographers’ wartime work in breaking Nazi Germany’s enigma code and shortening the war by up to two years, has come perilously close to irreversible decay – but is now hopefully safe for posterity.
Accompanied by Iain Lobban, head of the UK’s current home of cryptography, GCHQ, Hague also announced a scheme to persuade 100 of the country's brightest youngsters to forgo university and instead take an apprenticeship with GCHQ. “In the year in which we celebrate the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing, one of the finest mathematical minds our country has ever known and a leading light at Bletchley, we want to step up our efforts to find the most talented people to help sustain and secure the UK’s code-breaking and cyber expertise for the future,” he said.
Cybersecurity is seen as key to the future of the UK, both economically and defensively. But there is a well-publicized dearth of new young security talent – and what there is often gets snaffled by industry as it leaves university. Following a successful pilot scheme, GCHQ now hopes to short-circuit this process by grabbing the best prospects before they go to university. Given the increasing cost of a university education, combined with five-figure debts that graduates usually amass during their course, this could prove an attractive alternative.
Candidates will need three A-levels or their equivalent, with at least two being in a science, technology or math subject. In return they can expect an unspecified salary and a two-year course combining desk and placement work leading to a foundation degree course in communications, security and engineering at De Montfort University in Leicester, as well as a diploma in IT.
“Young people are the key to our country’s future success, just as they were during the war,” said Hague at Bletchley yesterday. “It will be the young innovators of this generation who will help keep our country safe in years to come against threats which are every bit as serious as some of those confronted in the Second World War.”