A ground breaking initiative which sees spy agency GCHQ team up with Manchester Science Partnerships, tech security giant Cisco and business accelerator Wayra launches today.

The first Manchester Engineering Accelerator will tap into the brightest software engineering start-ups in the UK and give them access to technological and security expertise from GCHQ, the National Cyber Security Centre and Telefónica, which is the partner organisation running the accelerator program under its Wayra UK banner.

Start-ups will receive the support to expand capability, improve ideas and devise cutting-edge products in areas including machine learning, automation and data engineering.

The initiative brings together GCHQ and industry expertise in a way never seen before.

The first accelerator was launched in Cheltenham, London two years ago to develop new technologies aimed at protecting the UK from cyber attacks.

Innovations developed include a cloud service solution to connect Internet of Things devices with end-to-end authenticated, encrypted security and a service to solve the problem of age verification and parental consent for young adults and children in online transactions.

So far four firms have been selected to take part in the Manchester programme.

(Image: GCHQ.)

They are Locometric, which has developed a floor plan app, the RoomScan Pro, Jobseekrs, which aims to help young people connect with jobs, Data Choice is developing a blockchain powered programmatic ad technology that rewards users for their data and the final company is PlaceDashboard, which helps retail asset investors and place managers measure and benchmark performance of retail parks, centres and store locations.

Speaking ahead of the Manchester launch, Wayra director Gary Stewart said: “Manchester has a vibrant tech community. The programme we are running in the city has a broader remit unlike the London cohort which looked specifically at cyber security.

“In Manchester we wanted to work with a diverse range of companies that are developing interesting technological solutions.

“The Manchester programme will take place over the course of three months and the start-ups will work closely with GCHQ and Wayra to unlock their potential.

“The goal is to help companies to identify technical possibilities of their solution as GCHQ have a lot of great technologists which the start-ups can get access to during the programme.

“That technical support will be complimented by business support which we can offer as a more traditional accelerator.

“The programme is an example of how innovative collaboration, which Manchester is renowned for, can help get exciting tech ideas off the ground.”

He added: ”If we find a company that is really interesting and has the potential to become the next WhatsApp or Netflix, we can help them to scale by giving them access to Telefonica’s network of customers and markets.”

Last year GCHQ announced hundreds of jobs are to be created at a cutting-edge new intelligence facility in Manchester.

Capitalising on the region’s digital technology talent pool and strengths in cybersecurity, the secure site is due to open in 2019 to support GCHQ’s work to identify and disrupt threats to the UK.

The Manchester facility will extend the network of sites in the UK operated by the UK Government’s intelligence, security and cyber agency.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “Our city, is a city of purpose that makes us a natural home of the emerging digital community of our country, many of the people that we would most want to be involved, will be our new talent coming through.”