Digital Planning will help develop the next generation of cybersecurity and AI experts – by backing the University of Derby’s Cyber AI Hackathon.
Mark Underwood and James Ferraby, Digital Planning’s co‑founders, will form part of the judging panel for the event on 7 November. They will provide strategic insight and industry experience as the contest takes place.
The online hackathon will see teams pitching innovative ideas and presenting working prototypes to address threats such as phishing filtering, intrusion detection, and identity verification.
Mark and James will be joined by Chief Science Officer, Ben Hutchings, who will contribute additional scientific and technical expertise, including evaluating projects centred on digital trust and AI‑driven security.
The online hackathon has a prize pool of $1,600 and is expected to attract global participation from various universities, as participants look to raise the standard for originality, technical detail, and practical relevance.
James Ferraby said: “We’re expecting a wide range of submissions, reflecting the urgent need for robust, scalable AI solutions in safeguarding digital infrastructure and optimising operational performance.
“The entrants will undoubtedly have impressive technical expertise, but also a clear awareness of evolving risks and sector challenges.”
Teams entering the Hackathon will develop working prototypes tackling phishing detection, intrusion monitoring, and identity verification. The panel of judges will then assess each entry on technical quality, scalability and operational impact. Judges have been invited from both industry and academic backgrounds.
That, combined with the outcome-driven approach of the event, is designed to encourage actionable advancements that work across industry sectors.
Ben said: “Digital Planning is about commercial research and development of new technologies, but we are very focused on delivery as well.
“Therefore, we will be looking to see how collaboration between academic researchers and industry leaders can enhance the understanding of insights and best practices, strengthening the pipeline of talent and innovation in intelligent systems.”
The hackathon’s format accelerates progress from concept formulation to live demonstration. Its aim is to enable participants to deliver measurable improvements in security, productivity, and compliance across regulated sectors.
Earlier this year, Digital Planning commenced a 4-year PhD sponsorship project with the University of Derby.
The partnership has seen research scholar Aman Wakade has commence work on focused on delivering real-world impact on use of AI in healthcare.
He is now researching the use of federated learning for training AI models alongside specialists at Loughborough-based Digital Planning.
