Yesterday (04/12/25) we were at the Thales UK offices in Green Park, Reading. The event was arranged as part of the Digital Special Interest Group (DIGSIG) by the Nuclear Institute (NI).
Thales has 33,000 employees in all areas of the globe and 7,800 of those are based in the UK at numerous locations. 4,500 of the total UK number are highly skilled engineers working on a number of different defence related projects. A further 7,000 jobs are supported through the UK supply chain.
Speakers on the day included a graduate software developer looking at drone technology, Operational Technology (OT) Security professional, Security by Design & Supply Chain Lead, Head of Sales & Communications, CNI Account Lead, and a Cyber Security apprentice.
The topics on the day included C-UAS (Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System) and their different uses in places such as prisons and RAF bases. The use of OT systems in different industries including nuclear and defence. The investment and risk in cyber security and Secure by Design (SbD); people and culture have a lot to do with the adoption, running and impact of these systems. Retention and hiring and important aspects as company culture has to be right.
All in all, an interesting morning and lunchtime of conversations with people from EDF, Createc, and the NI – we’ll be looking out for more events of this kind in the future.
Picture: Thales UK