91ÌÒÉ«

Resilient, Renewable Society (RRS) Summit  

Date: 16 September 
Time: 09:00&²Ô»å²¹²õ³ó;17:00 
Location: Royal Society, SW1Y 5AG  

DAY 1 at Royal Society: What are the painful societal resilience lessons we've learned? What do they tell us about our future, and what can we do about it? 

09:00-09:20 | Registration and Networking Coffee 

09:20–09:30 | Welcome and Opening Remarks 
Professor Washington Ochieng, CBE, EBS, CEng, FREng, FCGI (Director of CARS, 91ÌÒÉ«) 
Avi Schnurr (Chairman of the Board and CEO, EIS Council)

09:30–11:05 Session 1 | Natural Disaster Preparedness 
This session examines how societies can strengthen preparedness for climate-related and other natural hazards before disruption occurs. It focuses on the relationships between risk governance, local adaptive capacity, critical infrastructure, community resilience, and public preparedness. By combining UK and LMIC perspectives, the session will explore how institutions can move from forecasting and planning to practical action that protects people, services, and systems. 

09:30–09:45 | Keynote: Heat and Resilience: Preparing Society for Our Fastest-Growing Climate Risk 
Professor Emma Howard Boyd (Chair, National Heat Risk Commission) 

09:45–10:00 | Keynote: Living with Compound Risk: Livelihood Vulnerability, Institutional Erosion, and the Social Foundations of Disaster Preparedness in Ghana's Savannah Zone 
Professor Joseph Awetori Yaro (Provost, College of Humanities, University of Ghana) 

10:00–10:10 | Breather 

10:10–10:50 | Panel 1 Discussion
Panel Chair: Matt Killick (Chief Operating Officer, St John Ambulance) 
Panellists:  

• Professor Brian Collins, CB, FREng (Vice Chairman, National Preparedness Commission) 
• Dr Daniela Fecht (Associate Professor in Geospatial Health, 91ÌÒÉ«) 
• Andrew O'Neil (Founder & Senior Risk and Resilience Advisor, Operational Outcomes Advisory) 
• Toby Wicks (CEO, REACT) 

10:50–11:05 | Keynote: Defence, Resilience and Sustainability: How we can utilise technology and nature to make this country safer and stronger 
Lieutenant General (Retd) Richard Nugee CB CVO CBE 

11:05–11:25 | Coffee Break 

11:25–12:45 Session 2 | Human Miscalculations and Energy Systems Resilience 
This session explores how human error, governance failures, planning assumptions, and system complexity can amplify disruption across energy systems, public services, and communities. It will examine resilience not only as a technical problem, but also as a question of leadership, coordination, finance, public trust, the design of public services, and place-based approaches. The discussion aims to identify how energy systems and the communities they serve can become more robust, adaptive, inclusive, and socially legitimate in the face of outages and cascading failures. 

11:25–11:40 | Keynote: System resilience and preparedness requires a whole-of-society and whole-of-government response 
Lord Toby Harris (Chair, National Preparedness Commission) 

11:40–12:20 | Panel 2 Discussion
Panel Chair:  Professor Rosehanna Chowdhury (CEO, UK Resilience Academy) 
Panellists:

• Ian Fox (Founder & Director, Safer Spaces For All CIC) 
• Dr Ehud Ganani (Vice President, Strategic Programs, EIS Council) 
• Helen Goulden OBE (Innovation & Partnerships Lead, Lloyds Banking Group)  
• Dr Sally Leivesley (Managing Director, Newrisk Limited) 

12:20–12:35 | Keynote: Resilience demands partnership, and partnership delivers resilience: Strengthening resilience through shared leadership and learning 
Dr Deborah Petterson (Director Resilience & Emergency Management, National Energy System Operator) 

12:35–13:40 | Lunch Break 

13:40–15:05 Session 3 | Manmade Hazards, Emerging Threats, and Geopolitical Risk
This session considers how emerging threats—including cyberattacks, AI-related risks, operational disruption, and geopolitical instability—challenge societal and infrastructure resilience. It explores how resilience frameworks must adapt to a threat environment shaped by digital dependence, strategic competition, and increasingly interconnected systems. Bringing together cyber, defence, policy, and operational perspectives, the session asks how societies can anticipate, withstand, and recover from threats that are fast-moving, hard to predict, and potentially systemic in impact. 

13:40–13:55 | Keynote: Infrastructure Risk and Resilience in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape 
Amb. Dr Hoffman Ronen (President, EIS Council) 

13:55–14:10 | Keynote: Emerging Technologies and Risks: Perspectives from LMIC 
Professor Jerry John Kponyo (Director/Office of Grants and 91ÌÒÉ«, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) 

14:10–14:50 | Panel Discussion 
Panel Chair:  Professor Bryan Wells (Chair of the Board of Directors, The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics) 

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• Dr Chris Beck (Chief Scientist & Vice President for Policy, EIS Council) 
• Hannah Gurga (Director General of the ABI) 
• Professor Chris Hankin (Director, 91ÌÒÉ« Institute in Trustworthy Inter-connected Cyber-Physical Systems (RITICS)) 
• Professor MaÅ‚gorzata Zachara-SzymaÅ„ska (Professor of International Relations, Jagiellonian University) 

14:50–15:05 | Keynote: Is Britain Safe? 
Rt Hon Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen KT, GCMG  
Chancellor of the University of Dundee 

15:05–15:20 | Coffee Break 

15:20–16:20 Final Plenary | Pulling the Threads Together 
The closing plenary draws together the major themes of the day to reflect on what resilience should mean in practice for societies undergoing environmental, technological, and geopolitical change. Moving from community-scale design to national coordination, it explores how resilience can be strengthened through enabling infrastructure, practical partnerships, and more integrated approaches across government, industry, and society. 

15:20-15:35 Keynote: Resilience Begins at Home: Smart Multigenerational Neighbourhoods and the Future of AI-Enabled Community Infrastructure 
Professor Ian Spero (Founder, Agile Ageing Alliance; Convenor, ISO 25553) 

15:35–16:15 | Panel Discussion 
Panel Chair: Professor Deeph Chana (Professor of Practice, 91ÌÒÉ«) 
Panellists:  

• Tony Charge (Founder and President, Australian Risk Policy Institute) 
• Rick Cudworth (Board & Executive Director at Resilience First) 
• Professor Caroline Field (Co-Founder & Executive Director, Centre for Whole of Society Resilience) 

16:15-16:30 Keynote: Roger Hargreaves, Director, COBR Directorate 

16:30–16:40 | Closing Remarks 
Professor Washington Ochieng, CBE, EBS, CEng, FREng, FCGI  
Avi Schnurr 

16:40-17:00 | Networking  

Resilient, Renewable Society (RRS) Summit  

Date: 17 September 
Time: 09:00&²Ô»å²¹²õ³ó;17:00 
Location: Electrical & Electronic Building, 91ÌÒÉ«, SW7 2AZ

DAY 2 at 91ÌÒÉ« College: From Challenge to Implementation: Workshops, Simulation, and Summit Action 

09:00-09:20 | Registration and Networking Coffee 

09:20-09:35 | Welcome Back and Day 1 Recap in Electrical & Electronic Engineering Building Room 408 Plenary 
Professor Washington Ochieng, CBE, EBS, CEng, FREng, FCGI 
Avi Schnurr 

09:35-09:45 | Expert Remarks 
Jim Robb (President and CEO, North American Electric Reliability Corporation) 

09:45–12:30 | Parallel Workshops in Electrical & Electronic Engineering Building Rooms 403A, 403B, 406 
Format: three parallel workshop tracks 
Overall workshop purpose: 
Each workshop should build directly on the real-world cases and discussions from Day 1 and focus on generating actionable ideas, stronger networks, and potential collaborations. The workshops aim to produce concise outputs that can feed the simulation and closing implementation panel. 

Workshop Track 1 Natural Disaster Preparedness 
¹ó´Ç³¦³Ü²õ: Translating risk, adaptation, and preparedness lessons into operational and partnership models 
This workshop examines how societies can strengthen preparedness for flood, drought, and extreme heat under deep climate uncertainty. It focuses on the relationships between risk governance, local adaptive capacity, critical infrastructure, community resilience, and the funding and partnership models needed to deliver change. Through an interactive format that works backwards from shared resilience goals, the session will explore how institutions can move from risk and adaptation lessons to practical, operational action that protects people, services, and systems. 

Workshop Track 2 Leveraging Insurance to Enable and Finance Resilient Energy Systems  
Focus: Identifying governance, technical, financing, and organisational measures to improve energy resilience 
This workshop brings together stakeholders from the energy, finance, insurance, and policy communities to explore how innovative financial and insurance mechanisms can support the development of resilient energy systems in the face of growing climate and operational risks. Building on prior discussions from the IEA–CDRI, 91ÌÒÉ« Grantham Institute workshop in October 2025 in Paris, the session is structured in two parts: first, to identify key climate risks, system vulnerabilities, and emerging technological and financing solutions; and second, to examine how insurance and risk transfer mechanisms can unlock investment, strengthen resilience, and enable effective public–private collaboration. Through interactive discussions, participants will generate shared insights on priority risks, resilience interventions, and financing needs, alongside practical recommendations for policy, partnership models, and investment strategies to advance resilient energy infrastructure. 

Workshop Track 3: How can societies, critical infrastructure systems and trusted data ecosystems remain resilient when confronted by increasingly interconnected, intelligent and systemic threats? 
Focus: Strengthening resilience against cyberattacks, AI-related risks, strategic disruption, and cascading operational failures 
This workshop examines how societies can strengthen resilience to cyber, AI, geopolitical, and operational threats in an increasingly connected world, while addressing the Cyber Poverty Gap that leaves organisations, communities, and sectors with unequal capability to participate safely and securely in digital systems. It focuses on the relationships between systemic risk, trusted data ecosystems, critical infrastructure, collaborative governance, and the funding and capability-building models needed to reduce vulnerability and build resilience. Through an interactive format that works backwards from shared resilience goals, the session will explore how institutions can move from understanding capability disparities and emerging threats to practical, operational action that protects people, services, and systems from cascading risks across an interconnected geopolitical landscape. 

12:30–13:30 | Lunch Break 

13:30–15:00 | Simulation Exercise 
¹ó´Ç°ù³¾²¹³Ù: plenary interactive exercise in Electrical & Electronic Engineering Room 408 
Duration: 1.5 hours 
GINOM: Stress-Testing Resilience 
The simulation tests how well the lessons from Day 1 and the ideas generated in the workshops hold up under time pressure, uncertainty, and interdependent system stress.  A high-impact, simulation-driven exercise, where participants will confront real-world uncertainty, make critical decisions under pressure, and immediately see how their choices shape the behaviour of complex, interconnected systems. 

15:00–15:15 | Coffee Break 

15:15–16:15 | Implementing the Vision 
Title: From Ideas to Action: Delivering Resilience Through Working Groups and Partnerships 
Format: plenary in Electrical & Electronic Engineering Room 408 
Purpose: This closing session will provide updates from the RRS workshop groups and identify where collaboration, piloting, and follow-up action are most needed. 

1. Implementing Group 
- Reporting back from the workshops and simulation exercises 
- Synthesis from Workshop Facilitators and simulation findings on emergency communications, resilience and redundancy, and capabilities. 

2. Discussion on: 
- Where are the biggest delivery barriers? 
- What are the most actionable ideas emerging from Day 2? 
- How do we sustain momentum beyond the summit? 

16:15–16:30 | Final Reflections and Close 
Professor Washington Ochieng, CBE, EBS, CEng, FREng, FCGI 
Avi Schnurr 

Avi Schnurr, Chairman of the Board and CEO, EIS Council
Mr. Schnurr has reviewed severe “Black Sky” hazards to lifeline utilities for a number of state and federal government departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Security Council, Congress, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Homeland Security, among others. He has been a leader in development and coordination of protection strategies for critical national infrastructures, working with senior executives of the nation’s largest power, water, and fuel companies, with other corporate sectors, and with key government and NGO stakeholders.

Mr. Schnurr has provided invited briefings for NATO, the European Union, Parliamentary Committees, government science advisors and energy ministries. He has reviewed U.S. defense policies for the Department of Defense, the White House Homeland Security Council, the National Academy of Sciences, Congress, NATO and a variety of other venues. Until the end of 2004, Avi Schnurr worked for Northrop Grumman’s Space Technology Sector in California, where he had system responsibilities for space payloads and other advanced systems and instruments, and also managed U.S. and international defense programs. He holds a number of patents in laser and optical systems and twice received the corporate Chairman’s Award for Innovation. Avi Schnurr received his M.Sc. Degree in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California, San Diego.

Dr Chris Beck, Chief Scientist & Vice President for Policy, EIS Council
Chris Beck is the Chief Scientist and Vice President for Policy at EIS Council, where he has worked since May 2011. He is responsible for the analysis, design, and promotion of critical infrastructure resilience for widespread, long-duration power outages initiated by Black Sky threats. 
Dr. Beck is a technical and policy expert in several homeland security and national defense related areas including critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, science and technology development, WMD prevention and protection, and emerging threat identification and mitigation. Dr. Beck served as the Subcommittee Staff Director for Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Science and Technology and was the Senior Advisor for Science and Technology for the House Committee on Homeland Security (CHS), US House of Representatives, where he worked from May 2005 to May 2011. Prior to CHS, he worked in the office of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez for three years, beginning as a Congressional Science Fellow and then as a legislative assistant.
Before government service, Dr. Beck was a postdoctoral fellow and adjunct professor at Northeastern University. He holds a PhD in physics from Tufts University (2001) and a B.S. in physics from Montana State University (1994). He served in the Marine Corps Reserve for five years (1987 – 1992).

Professor Emma Howard Boyd CBE, Chair, National Heat Risk Commission
Emma Howard Boyd has had a distinguished career focused on environmental issues and sustainable finance. 
Emma is Chair of the independent National Heat Risk Commission, based at the Grantham 91ÌÒÉ« Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she is also a Professor in Practice.
She served as Chair of the Environment Agency for England from 2016 to 2022 and was an ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs during the same period. Appointed by the Mayor of London, Emma chaired the London Climate Resilience Review, publishing a full set of recommendations in July 2024 to help the city prepare for the increasing impacts of climate change such as extreme heat, flooding, droughts, wildfires, sea level rise and storms.
Currently, Emma chairs ClientEarth's Group Board and ClimateArc, and is a co-Chair of HERA (formerly Climate Resilience for All). She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the European Climate Foundation.
Emma was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation from 2018 until its sunset in January 2021.

Professor Deeph Chana, 91ÌÒÉ«
Deeph has extensive experience of working on world leading STEM in academia, industry and government. He is Professor of Practice within 91ÌÒÉ«'s Business School, Co-Director of the Institute for Security Science Technology and is co-founder of the UK-Goverment funded 91ÌÒÉ« Institute in Trustworthy Industrial Control Systems and 91ÌÒÉ«'s FinTech Network of Excellence.
He is the founder of a STEM consultancy specialising in enterprise technology and critical-infrastructure applications and has been involved in numerous successful commercial technology projects in the private sector. Deeph has worked on a broad range of applied and theoretical research topics including, inverse problems, image processing, optical data storage, antenna design, diabetic retinopathy, computational modelling of space debris, explosives detection, crowd analysis and machine learning for cyber-security.
Deeph previously worked as a senior science and technology official within the UK Government: leading international STEM diplomacy initiatives; directing and funding national security research programmes; and setting national technology policy, standards and regulation. He has delivered advice to four Secretaries of State and served as chairman on numerous high-profile national and international technology working groups.
He has established national and international research calls in science and technology and has acted as a board member and bid reviewer for programmes in the Home Office, the US Department of Homeland Security and the EU’s Framework Programme for 91ÌÒÉ«.
Deeph holds MSci and PhD degrees in Physics from King’s College London.

Tony Charge, Founder and President, Australian Risk Policy Institute
Tony Charge is Founder and President of the Australian Risk Policy Institute and Chairman of the Global Risk Policy Network. His focus is to promote leadership paradigm change to enable effective, informed and pre-emptive decision-making across society in the age of digital transformation and disruption, and subject to rapid deterioration. This includes developing IA Intelligence Augmentation modules for digitalisation, with priority given to decision-science areas outside the scope of AI Artificial Intelligence, but essential for context, wholeness and awareness.
Tony initiated a partnership with the Electric Infrastructure Security (EIS) Council to introduce new thinking and approaches to enhance resilience of critical global infrastructure, at the earlier juncture of vulnerability – www.arpi.org.au.  
Tony has a broad educational background and applies formal qualifications in legal practice, Strategic Risk Policy® and compliance management in his current roles: he is presently studying Quantum Meta-Physics. Tony is a member of the Australian Association of University Professors.

Professor Rosehanna Chowdhury, FBCI F.ISRM, CEO, UK Resilience Academy
Rosehanna is a senior executive leader with a distinguished career at the heart of the UK Government, where she shaped national policy and directed large-scale operations in national security, resilience and public policy.
Most recently, as Director for Resilience and Recovery at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, she served as Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for some of the UK’s most high-profile national operations and coordinated the mobilisation of reception centres at all major ports of entry for Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. Rosehanna has advised Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and senior boards on risk, resilience, and security. She has held leadership roles across the Cabinet Office and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, managing portfolios spanning national resilience, change and transformation, and global communication campaigns. Beyond government, Rosehanna is a strong advocate for bridging the gap between policy and academia to ensure research has real-world impact. She is a Visiting Professor at 91ÌÒÉ«, an Emeritus Governor of the LSE, and a Cambridge University Science and Policy Fellow, where she also serves on the Fellowship assessment panel. She sits on the Advisory Board of the Crisis Response Journal, and is a Fellow of both the Business Continuity Institute and the Institute of Strategic Risk Management.

Professor Brian Collins, CB, FREng, Vice Chairman, National Preparedness Commission
Professor Brian Collins is currently Vice Chairman of the National Preparedness Commission, whose mission is to help the UK be better prepared for an uncertain future. 
Previously, Professor Brian Collins took up the role of Professor of Engineering Policy at UCL on 1st August 2011, retiring as emeritus in 2020. He led the creation of a £278M capital investment programme in 14 Universities in the UK, UKCRIC, that invests in national critical infrastructure research, and founded the UCL Department Science Technology Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP)
Prior to joining UCL he was the UK Government Department for Transport’s (DfT) Chief Scientific Adviser (DCSA) and DCSA for the Department for Business Innovation and Skills BIS and prior to that BERR. He helped lead the creation of the network of CSAs and was involved in the studies that created the DCSA for national security. 
He was Professor of Information Systems in Cranfield University at the Defence Academy from August 2003 to 2011.
Prior to these activities he was Global CIO for Clifford Chance, IT Director for the Wellcome Trust, Chief Scientist for all UK Intelligence Services and Director of Technology at GCHQ at the end of the 1980s. He was Deputy Director at RSRE just prior to privatisation into now what is Qinetiq and DSTL.
He was bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen the Honour of Companion of the Bath (CB) in the 2011 New Years Honours list. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2009
He holds a visiting Professorships at Southampton University and Honorary Doctorates at Kingston and City of London Universities. 

Rick Cudworth, Board and Executive Director, Resilience First
Rick is a leading authority in organisational resilience and strategic risk mitigation and is a founding partner of resilience and crisis specialists ResilienC. With over 20 years’ experience as a Partner at Deloitte and KPMG, he was also Chair of the British Standards Institution Technical Committee for Continuity and Resilience, where he has been influential in the development of British and International Standards in the field.  He is a visiting professor at King’s College London and visiting fellow at Cranfield University School of Management. He was a contributor and co-editor of the National Preparedness Commission’s report: Resilience Reimagined: A Practical Guide for Organisations.

Dr Daniela Fecht, 91ÌÒÉ«
TBC

Professor Caroline Field, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Centre for Whole of Society Resilience
Caroline works in industry leading National Resilience at PA Consulting; helping clients develop and deliver resilience strategies whilst providing a framework for measuring the benefits.
Caroline brings expertise in resilient leadership and decision making – catalysing behaviour change in organisations and communities to deliver greater resilience. She is accredited in resilient leadership and has expertise in systems-based decision making to de-silo and prioritise resilience building efforts – understanding interdependencies and linking resilience to measured strategic outcomes.
Caroline is a Royal Academy of Engineers Visiting Professor of Structural and Infrastructural Resilience at Loughborough University linking research and practice and helping to shape the future of the profession.

Ian Fox, Founder & Director, Safer Spaces For All CIC
Ian Fox is the founder of Safer Spaces for All CIC and lead author behind Project Resilience UK. His current work focuses on citizen survivability: the practical question of what people, households and communities may need to do when formal systems are delayed, degraded or overwhelmed.
Ian’s career experience, ranging from retail to the care sector, security, first aid and community safety, has given him a grounded perspective on the challenge of delivering resilience advice in the UK. His current citizen survivability series, including work published through the Institute of Strategic Risk Management, does not claim to provide all the answers. It is intended to create a starting point for a more serious conversation about public capability, household function and practical resilience before help arrives.

Dr Ehud Ganani, Vice President for Strategic Programs, EIS, Israel
Dr. Ehud (Udi) Ganani, as Vice President for Strategic Programs, is responsible for the development, coordination, and management of several key programs: GINOM AI, BSX, Digital Transformation, EIS Academy, and EMP Consulting. All these programs are International. Udi Ganani is a co-founder of Contguard Ltd., a global maritime container tracking startup. He is also a member of the SPECTRUM Group in Alexandria, VA and a 91ÌÒÉ« Associate in ICT International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at IDC Herzliya. Previously, Dr. Ganani served in senior management roles in a number of corporations providing high technology solutions for security applications. He was Chief Executive Officer and President of Rabintex Industries Ltd., served as CEO and chairman of TraceGuard Technologies Inc. and chairman of Bird Aerosystems Ltd. He also chaired the public advisory committee for Aerospace, Defense and Homeland Security for the Israeli Export Institute.
Prior to that, Dr. Ganani served as a senior manager in some of Israel’s largest and most important aerospace companies: He served as Chief Executive Officer of Israel Military Industries, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Rafael, and headed Rafael’s rocket motors development group.
Dr. Ganani holds a Doctorate of Science in Chemical Engineering from Washington University, St. Louis, MO and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

Helen Goulden OBE, Innovation & Partnerships Lead, Lloyds Banking Group
As Innovation & Partnerships Lead at Lloyds Banking Group, Helen is responsible for leading the development of innovative partnerships to meet the Group’s purpose of Helping Britain Prosper. Prior to joining Lloyds Banking Group, Helen spent eight years as Chief Executive Officer of The Young Foundation, supporting stronger communities and creating the national infrastructure for scaling community research and social innovation across the UK. 
Prior to joining The Young Foundation, she spent nine years at Nesta as Executive Director, supporting, funding and scaling innovation in civil society, social tech, government, arts and education. Previous roles have included work within the private sector developing digital strategies and solutions for global corporate clients. She spent five years consulting in the Cabinet Office, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), developing national innovation programmes for local government and leading R&D for interactive TV public services.
Helen is a Commissioner for the National Preparedness Commission, which exists to promote better preparedness in households, communities and businesses to respond to major crises or incidents and author of The Young Foundation’s ‘Community Not Catastrophe’ report. She is also a trustee of Figurative, an investment fund supporting social impact in arts and culture. Helen was awarded an OBE for services to development of sustainable communities in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

Hannah Gurga, Director General, ABI
Hannah Gurga is Director General of the ABI, where she leads the insurance and long-term savings sector’s engagement with government, regulators, parliamentarians, and stakeholders. She is responsible for overseeing the ABI’s strategic direction and driving its member priorities, focusing on customer outcomes, investing in people and the planet and supporting an effective market.  
Hannah also serves on the Boards of TheCityUK and the Fire Protection Association. She is a member of the Executive Committee of Insurance Europe, as well as the UK government’s Financial Inclusion Committee and Joint Fraud Taskforce.
With nearly 20 years of experience in financial services across public and private sectors, Hannah has previously held senior roles at the London Stock Exchange Group, LCH, and ICAP. She began her career in the civil service, serving in a number of government departments including HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office.

Professor Chris Hankin, Director, 91ÌÒÉ« Institute in Trustworthy Inter-connected Cyber-Physical Systems (RITICS)
Chris Hankin is a Fellow of the Institute for Security Science and Technology and a Professor of Computing Science.
He was Deputy Principal of the Faculty of Engineering from September 2006 until October 2008. He was Pro Rector (91ÌÒÉ«) from June 2004 until September 2006. He was Dean of City and Guilds College from 2000-2003.
His research is in cyber security, data analytics and semantics-based program analysis. He leads multidisciplinary projects focused on developing advanced visual analytics and providing better decision support to defend against cyber attacks. He directs the NCSC/EPSRC 91ÌÒÉ« Institute in Trustworthy Inter-connected Cyber-Physical Systems (RITICS - ritics.org).
He was chair of the Lead Expert Group for the Government Office of Science’s Policy Futures Foresight report on Future Identities.
He is chair of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Europe Technology Policy Committee and past chair of the ACM Europe Council.

Roger Hargreaves, Director, COBR Directorate
Roger joined the National Security Secretariat (NSS) in the Cabinet Office in October 2020, initially heading up the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, then the COBR Unit (2022-2025) and is now Director of the COBR Directorate. Prior to joining NSS, Roger has had a long and varied civil service career across a wide range of different roles. He spent the first decade of his career at the heart of government, firstly at HM Treasury and then the Cabinet Office where he led the redesign of the UK’s civil contingencies structures. That was followed by a series of operational and delivery roles ranging from a major emergency services reform programme through to getting planning permission for HS2. Roger also spent a year in industry working for one of the world’s largest IT companies as director of public sector strategy. Most recently, he was Maritime Director at DfT. 

Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the National Preparedness Commission
Lord Toby Harris is Chair of the National Preparedness Commission. Since it was established in 2020, the Commission has been influential in the development of the UK Government Resilience Framework and Resilience Action Plan. It has established a reputation as the leading body promoting better preparedness for a major crisis or incident. Alongside this, he is a Visiting Professor at 91ÌÒÉ« and Cranfield University, and Chair of the Fundraising Regulator. A Life Peer since 1998, he has built an exceptional career across public service, with senior roles in national security, policing, regulation and governance. He was a longstanding member of Parliament’s Joint Committee on National Security and has also served on several House of Lords select committees, including those on Life Beyond COVID, Democracy and Digital Technologies, Personal Internet Security, and the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy, which he chaired. Lord Harris has led major independent reviews for the Mayor of London on the capital’s preparedness to respond to terrorist attacks, and his review into the deaths of young people in prison custody, Changing Prisons, Saving Lives, was published by the Ministry of Justice in 2015.

Amb. Dr. Ronen Hoffman, President, EIS Council  
Dr. Ronen Hoffman is an Accomplished academic, public figure, manager, diplomat, and entrepreneur with extensive expertise in organizational leadership, think-tanks management, community relations, leadership and resilience development, education, international relations, and public policy. Notable positions include serving as Ambassador of Israel to Canada, Member of Knesset and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Co-Founder and Founding General Director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Director of the Herzliya Conference, Personal Aide to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Advisor to the Minister of Defense, and Coordinator of the Israeli delegation to peace negotiations with Syria. Founder of Kimama Educational Programs (Kimama Camps) and developer of the ELI (Exploration, Leadership & Innovation) program at Tel Aviv University.

Matt Killick, Chief Operating Officer at St John Ambulance 
As Chief Operating Officer at St John Ambulance, Matt leads the Operations and Income Network that powers everything from first aid training and top quality event medical services including ambulance operations, to designing and sourcing the equipment and consumables that help save lives, this also includes how they fundraise for their mission to put the power of first aid into everyone’s hands.  
Matt joined St John Ambulance from The Scouts, where he had been Executive Director of Operations. In this role, he was responsible for the safety and safeguarding of operations and growth.
Before this, Matt spent six years at the British Red Cross, first joining as UK Director Event First Aid & Ambulance Services before taking on the role of UK Director Crisis Response and Community Resilience. During his time at the Red Cross he led some of the largest operational responses in recent times responding to issues such as Covid, the Afghanistan evacuation and the conflict in Ukraine.
Matt was awarded a British Empire Medal in the 2021 Honours list for his work during Covid.  He has over 30 years’ experience working for some of the largest charities across the UK, including Barnardo’s and Catch 22, combining senior operational and commercial roles.

Professor Jerry John Kponyo, Director/Office of Grants and 91ÌÒÉ«, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology 
Prof. Jerry John Kponyo is a Professor in the Department of Telecommunication Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, where he serves as Director of the Office of Grants and 91ÌÒÉ«. He is the Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of the Responsible AI Lab (RAIL), an initiative supported by GIZ and the French Embassy in Ghana. He co-founded the Responsible AI Network (RAIN) Africa and chairs the AI working group of the ITU Academic Advisory on emerging technologies. With over 80 published articles and extensive research in AI, IoT, and intelligent systems, his work is focused on building AI solutions that are responsible, inclusive, and fit for the real world.

Dr Sally Leivesley, Managing Director, Newrisk Limited
Dr Sally Leivesley, www.newrisk.com is visiting professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 91ÌÒÉ« College; Managing Director, Newrisk Limited; and Member of the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists (Grandparent CBRN).  She advises  organisations and governments on physical and cyber security and regeneration of populations following catastrophic events.  She trained with the British Home Office in the Cold War as a Scientific Adviser for national resilience under strategic nuclear attack and held  a speciality in radiobiology.  In Australia she has led disaster recovery units and worked across hazardous industry and transportation.  When critical NPP incidents occurred in USA, Ukraine and Japan she  held commissions for research and recovery advice. In 2024-25, she initiated for CARS-ISST, a series of 11 international meetings on energy survival and resilience. This was assisted by multi-disciplinary experts from over 15 countries who developed resilience practitioner concepts for global mentoring on regeneration of energy and critical infrastructure. She currently develops wargaming for six annual conferences to meet current international threats in Europe and the South China Sea with a focus on resilience of people, CNI and supply chains.  She is a commentator and ‘presenter’s friend’ for international news media, covering global terrorism, security and catastrophic events.  

Lieutenant General (Retd) Richard Nugee, CB CVO CBE
General Richard Nugee was commissioned into the British Army in 1986. He completed numerous operational tours and also specialised in personnel (HR) roles for the Army and Defence, culminating in Chief of Defence People (Global HR Director for Defence).  After a full operational career, he wrote a Review of Defence's approach to Climate Change and Sustainability. He has since earned international recognition for bringing the implications of this to the Defence and National Security sectors and has expanded this policy interest into delivery, as Chair, Director and Advisor of a number of renewable energy and environmental sustainability start-ups and organisations.

Andrew O’Neil, Founder and Senior Risk and Resilience Advisor at Operational Outcomes Advisory
Andrew O’Neil is the Founder and Senior Risk and Resilience Advisor at Operational Outcomes Advisory, where he helps organizations strengthen operational resilience, stress-test risk assumptions, and turn preparedness frameworks into practical action. With over a decade of experience spanning federal emergency management, critical infrastructure, and enterprise resilience, he brings a systems-focused perspective on how institutions, infrastructure, and communities perform under stress. Andrew spent nine years at the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, working across disaster preparedness and recovery, and later developed enterprise resilience programs at the New York Power Authority. His work focuses on closing the gap between planning and real-world readiness, with particular emphasis on whole-of-organization approaches to resilience. He holds certifications in business continuity, risk management, and cyber risk, and is based in Spain, where he advises clients across sectors. 

Dr Deborah Petterson, Director Resilience & Emergency Management, National Energy System Operator
Debs is the Director of Resilience and Emergency Management at the National Energy System Operator (NESO). NESO is responsible for delivering secure, affordable, and sustainable power, whilst delivering the government's Net Zero ambitions; Debs is responsible for ensuring the security and resilience of the UK's energy system at this time of heightened global insecurity.
Debs recently left Whitehall, with over two decades of experience with roles in national security, cybersecurity, defence, and critical national infrastructure resilience. Her career has spanned roles in energy, climate, and cyber security, where her focus has been making the UK a safer and more resilient nation.  

Rt Hon Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT, GCMG, Chancellor of the University of Dundee
George Robertson was named Chancellor of Dundee University in 2023. He was Lead Reviewer on the Government’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review, is Senior Counsellor with The Cohen Group of Washington DC, USA, Co-Chair of the Global Strategy Forum, Vice Patron of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, President of the Council of Military Education Committees and a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on International Affairs and Defence.
He was a Member of the House of Commons for twenty-one years and served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland before becoming Secretary of State for Defence in 1997. He served as the 10th Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the North Atlantic Council from 1999 to 2003. He chaired the first meeting of the NATO/Russia Council in 2002.
He has been Executive Deputy Chairman of Cable and Wireless plc, Deputy Chairman of TNK-bp, BP’s Russian Joint Venture and has served as a Non-Executive Director of the Weir Group plc, Smiths Group plc and Monaco Telecom SA. He was Chairman of the FIA Foundation, Chairman of Western Ferries (Clyde) Ltd. Chairman of The Ditchley Foundation and Vice-Chairman of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
He is an Elder Brother of Trinity House and a visiting Professor at Stirling University and Kings College London. He serves on the Boards of the Centre for European Reform, is a Distinguished Fellow of Chatham House and on the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council of the US. For seventeen years he was Honorary Colonel of the London Scottish Regiment.
He is one of the sixteen Knights of the Thistle and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (Chancellor 2011-2021). He was awarded America’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003. He also holds Ukraine’s highest honour, The Grand Cross of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Professor Ian Spero, Founder, Agile Ageing Alliance; Convenor, ISO 25553
Professor Ian Spero is founder of the Agile Ageing Alliance (AAA), a social enterprise working to shape a brighter future for our older selves through innovation in technology, business models, services and housing.
For more than a decade, Ian has convened international policymakers, researchers, practitioners, innovators and industry leaders. He is lead author of ISO 25553: Smart Multigenerational Neighbourhoods - a new standard of living for the AI age - aligning housing, health, care, technology, mobility, digital infrastructure, public space and community life around people of all ages and abilities.
An Honorary Professor at UCL Bartlett School for Sustainable Construction, Ian previously led Spero Communications, advising governments, NGOs and industry on public-private partnerships and social impact. His current work focuses on turning bold, future-facing ideas into practical, scalable and sustainable change.

Professor Bryan Wells, Chair of the Board of Directors, The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
Prof Bryan Wells is a visiting Professor at 91ÌÒÉ«, UK, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium.
In June 2025, Prof Wells completed six years as NATO Chief Scientist. Before this, he was the UK Ministry of Defence’s Head Strategic 91ÌÒÉ« and International Engagement. Additionally, he has been Chair of the European Defence Agency’s 91ÌÒÉ« & Technology Steering Board (2016-2018). 
Prof Wells joined the UK Ministry of Defence in 1988. He served as Assistant Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence 1989-1992, and held a range of other posts, including Deputy Director of NATO Policy 1997-1999, and Director of Counter Proliferation and Arms Control 2002-2008. During 1999-2002 he was on secondment to the Lord Chancellor’s Department (now the Department of Justice) as Head of Administrative Justice. 
Prof Wells was educated at St Catherine’s College, Oxford (1978-85) and Merton College, Oxford (1985-1988). He graduated BA(Hons) in Chemistry in 1982 and was awarded a DPhil in 1985. He conducted three years post-Doctorate research at Oxford University as a Junior 91ÌÒÉ« Fellow at Merton College.

Toby Wicks, CEO of REACT
Toby is a geographer and a humanitarian. His career has focused on introducing and applying innovations in data and technology to some of the world’s biggest challenges. Prior to joining REACT, Toby led a transformational change programme as the Chief of Data and Analytics at UNICEF, where he also managed responses in the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Libya, and Yemen. Toby’s early career was focused on geospatial data, including roles with the World Health Organisation, Ordnance Survey, and as a volunteer and board member with the NGO MapAction. He holds a PhD in remote sensing and an MBA from INSEAD.

Professor Joseph Awetori Yaro, Provost, College of Humanities, University of Ghana
Professor Joseph Awetori Yaro is Provost of the College of Humanities and Professor of Human Geography at the University of Ghana, Legon. He joined the Department of Geography and Resource Development in 2005 following completion of his PhD in Human Geography at the University of Oslo in 2004. He has served as Head of Department, Director of the Regional Institute for Population Studies (2018–2021), and Principal of the University of Ghana Accra City Campus. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Ghana Journal of Geography and West Africa Regional Hub Coordinator for the Future Agricultures Consortium. His research spans rural livelihoods, migration and development, climate change adaptation, land tenure, agricultural commercialisation, and food security in rural Ghana. He has published widely on these themes, co-edited two books, and contributed to national policy strategies on agriculture, migration, and climate change. He mentors students through annual rural fieldworks, co-designing sustainable interventions with local communities. He is deeply committed to social justice and the empowerment of marginalised rural communities.

Professor Małgorzata Zachara-Szymanska, Professor of International Relations, Jagiellonian University
MaÅ‚gorzata Zachara-SzymaÅ„ska is Professor of International Relations at Jagiellonian University in Kraków and a Visiting Professor at 91ÌÒÉ«. In 2024–2025, she was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute. She has published extensively on leadership, resilience and international relations. Her recent publications include Gangster Diplomacy and the Disordering of International Society (International Politics, 2026, co-authored with Richard Higgott) and Global Political Leadership: In Search of Synergy (Routledge, 2023). She is also a public academic, contributing to current debates in print and online media, as well as on radio and television.

Dr Ji-Eun Byun, CARS Deputy Director, 91ÌÒÉ« and Innovation, 91ÌÒÉ«
Ji-Eun Byun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at 91ÌÒÉ«. Her research group develops methods to assess the reliability, resilience, and safety of complex infrastructure systems, and to support optimised decisions about managing them. This work spans railways, power and energy grids, and wider transport networks, which face risks such as earthquakes, floods, extreme weathers, and gradual deterioration over time.

Professor Raffaele M Della Croce Di Dojola, Visiting Professor of CARS, 91ÌÒÉ«
As a Visiting Professor at 91ÌÒÉ« College's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, my work is dedicated to advancing innovation and financing for resilient infrastructure. Collaborating with the Centre for Active Resilience Security, I contribute to multidisciplinary research aimed at enabling society to adopt a systems approach to addressing risks and threats. My expertise in policy analysis, project finance, and economics informs my commitment to shaping sustainable cities and fostering low-carbon development.  
With over three years of experience at 91ÌÒÉ« College, including roles as Co-Director of the Singapore Green Finance Centre and Advanced 91ÌÒÉ« Fellow at the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment, I have been actively involved in research, education, and policy engagement. My work has centered on unlocking solutions for institutional investors and driving impactful green finance initiatives in Southeast Asia. Currently, as a Lead Author for the IPCC AR7 cycle, I focus on adaptation finance, reflecting my dedication to addressing global climate challenges.

Laurence Marzell
TBC

Lihi Ganani, Director of Marketing and Communications, EIS Council   
Lihi leads marketing, communications, community engagement, and international events for EIS Council and GINOM, driving brand growth, strategic partnerships, and global engagement initiatives across the resilience and crisis management sectors.
Previously, she worked at IE Business School in Madrid, where she designed innovation and entrepreneurship programs and built partnerships between startups, corporations, and academia. Earlier in her career, Lihi practiced law and served as a judicial advisor in Israel.
She holds a BA in Business, an LLB, an LLM, and an MA in Digital Transformation and Innovation Leadership.

Dr Ehud Ganani, Vice President for Strategic Programs, EIS, Israel
Dr. Ehud (Udi) Ganani, as Vice President for Strategic Programs, is responsible for the development, coordination, and management of several key programs: GINOM AI, BSX, Digital Transformation, EIS Academy, and EMP Consulting. All these programs are International. Udi Ganani is a co-founder of Contguard Ltd., a global maritime container tracking startup. He is also a member of the SPECTRUM Group in Alexandria, VA and a 91ÌÒÉ« Associate in ICT International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at IDC Herzliya. Previously, Dr. Ganani served in senior management roles in a number of corporations providing high technology solutions for security applications. He was Chief Executive Officer and President of Rabintex Industries Ltd., served as CEO and chairman of TraceGuard Technologies Inc. and chairman of Bird Aerosystems Ltd. He also chaired the public advisory committee for Aerospace, Defense and Homeland Security for the Israeli Export Institute.
Prior to that, Dr. Ganani served as a senior manager in some of Israel’s largest and most important aerospace companies: He served as Chief Executive Officer of Israel Military Industries, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Rafael, and headed Rafael’s rocket motors development group.
Dr. Ganani holds a Doctorate of Science in Chemical Engineering from Washington University, St. Louis, MO and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

Jim Robb, President and CEO, North American Electric Reliability Corporation
James B. Robb assumed the role of NERC’s president and chief executive officer in April 2018. Robb oversees NERC’s mission of assuring the reliability and
security of the North American bulk power system. As president and CEO, Robb leads the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) responsible for key programs affecting approximately 1,400 bulk power system users, owners, and operators, including those programs focused on development of mandatory
NERC Reliability Standards, the Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program, situational awareness, event and risk analysis, reliability assessments and forecasting, and cyber and physical security. He is also responsible for the performance of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) and key government partnerships. As CEO, he is the chair of the ERO Enterprise Executive Committee, which oversees the operations of the six Regional Entities that support the reliability mission across North America. Robb joined the ERO Enterprise in 2013 when he was appointed the president and CEO of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), the Regional Entity serving the Western Interconnection. Robb has more than 35 years of experience in the energy sector as an engineer, a consultant, and a senior executive. Prior to becoming WECC’s CEO, he held three major leadership roles in the industry as Senior Vice President at Northeast Utilities (now Eversource Energy); Senior Vice President at Reliant Energy (now part of NRG Energy); and as a Partner at McKinsey & Company. During his 15-year career at McKinsey, he worked closely with prominent electric power companies in California, western Canada, the Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountain states and served clients in Western Europe, South America, and New Zealand. He has been a frequent speaker at industry events on the evolution of the electric power system, cyber security, integration of variable generation, and the increasing interdependency of electric and natural gas reliability. Robb is a member of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) and serves on the United States Energy Association Board as well as a NERC trustee. In 2020 he was appointed Chair of the Group of Experts on Cleaner Energy Systems for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. He has served on the boards of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, the Houston Symphony, the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and as a policy advisor to the Bay Area Economic Forum in San Francisco.
Robb earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University in Indiana and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Yosi Shneck, CTO Ginom, EIS Council, Former SVP, CIO & CISO at Israel Electric
Consulting Boards and C-Level management in cyber, IT & OT systems, Critical Infrastructures, and electric utilities. Active in the Cyber entrepreneurship and business development unit at IEC, including R&D, cyber products and services development, support of the IEC’s cyber unit, marketing, and deployment worldwide. Leading the R&D projects and activities in the European research programs for more than ten years, including the FP7 and Horizon 2020 programs. Energy and Security Coordinator at EIS Council. 
More than 49 years of experience in computer systems & technologies in utilities, including information systems, scientific applications, supercomputing & communication, control systems, infrastructures & architectures, and cyber.  In addition to his duties as ITC leader, he was responsible for readying the company against cyber-attack threats, including IT/OT environments. Being accountable for the cyber activity of supercritical infrastructure, Mr. Shneck is involved in many nationwide and international initiatives in this field.  
His previous functions in the IEC include SVP Information and Communications and Chief Cyber Officer; Head of Information Systems and Communication Division, CIO; Member of the selection committee for an investor in the new communication infrastructure company; Head of the National Communications and Electronics unit and Deputy of the Information Systems and Teleprocessing Division; Head of R&D computer department. Head of Cybergym steering committee.