More than £740,000 of Welsh Government Tech Valleys funding will be spent on inspiring thousands more children across Southeast Wales to explore cyber security careers.
The money will be used by the National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC) to expand its cyber security education outreach programme to 10,000 learners across the region.
NDEC delivers interactive activities on digital forensics, cybercrime and internet safety for primary school children.
The extra funding will introduce new training on AI and sustainability, and help address barriers like transport and equipment costs for schools in disadvantaged areas. It will also enable bilingual delivery of activities.
The programme is delivered by Thales and the University of South Wales and encourages young people to pursue education and careers in cyber security and computing.
The first phase of the programme reached 216 schools and 20,000 learners across Southeast Wales.
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Rebecca Evans, said: "These vital skills will help keep children safe online whilst opening the doors to rewarding careers.
"Our investment will help inspire more students, foster early interest in digital careers, and support the development of a future cyber workforce - and I am really pleased that this programme can now be delivered bilingually."
Year 5 students from Ysgol Y Graig in Merthyr Tydfil are taking part in digital forensics activities, where they have been learning about cybercrime and online safety. They worked in groups to gather evidence from a staged crime scene, which they will analyse in a later session.
Ysgol y Graig Primary School teacher, Matthew Howells said: "The Digital forensics project is an absolutely amazing experience for the children. The range of activities they cover and the immersive experience of analysing the Jaguar, gives the children a wide range of future career opportunities and develops an increased passion for STEM. A wide range skills are developed across the 5 project sessions and the opportunity to work with STEM role models is an added benefit for the children."
