We mentioned villages before, plural. Each one of our villages runs throughout the main con, with specialised content that you can dip in or out of – or maybe spend the entire time in the village! Our first spotlight is Policy Village! Policy as in inter and intranational. Organised by Jen Ellis | InfosecJen, we are bringing the policy makers and advisors to you!
“With cybercrime costing the UK economy billions of pounds every year and the UK’s long-held focus on being a global leader in technical innovation, it’s not surprising that the UK government is very active in cyber policy both domestically and internationally. In 2022 alone, the UK government passed or amended three cyber-related laws, issued six cyber policy consultations, and ran two Parliamentary inquiries on cybersecurity issues. These developments can have far-reaching impact for security professionals.
44CON wants to give attendees an opportunity to learn more about expected cyber policy developments and even give you a voice in this work. It is imperative policymakers hear directly from those with real world experience of the challenges they seek to address. The Policy Village will be running a mix of sessions designed to get you up to speed with what’s happening in policy, help you build relationships with policymakers, and enable you to provide direct feedback on suggested policy developments.”
Schedule
Thursday 14th September 2023
| 1030 | WELCOME | Welcome and intro to Public Policy Village (Jen|Kat|Carla TBC) | |
| 1035 | TALK | UK Cyber Policy 101 – presented by Irfan Hemani of the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology | |
| 1230 | LUNCHTIME | Have Lunch with a Govvie – informal meet and chat session with representatives of DSIT, NCSC, and the Cabinet Office | |
| 1400 | POLICY | Prime Minister for a Day – come tell HMG what they should be paying attention to in security | |
| 1600 | DISCUSSION | Policy drop in – informal clinic for advice and chats | |
| 1730 | “The Evening Session” all welcome. |
Friday 15th September 2023
| 1000 | WELCOME | Welcome and Day 1 reflections (Jen|Kat|Carla) | |
| 1015 | DISCUSSION | Cabinet Office roundtable on Securing Public Services: What would you do? | |
| 1230 | LUNCHTIME | Have Lunch with a Govvie – informal meet and chat session with representatives of DSIT, NCSC, and the Cabinet Office | |
| 1330 | DISCUSSION | DSIT roundtable on the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act | |
| 1500 | WORKSHOP | Workshop on Submitting Responses to Government Consultations – presented by Katharina Sommer, NCC Group | |
| 1600 | MOVE | Closing Keynote in Track 1 |
Seeking to act as an interpreter between technical and policy communities, Kat leads NCC Group’s political engagement, government relations and lobbying work, educating policy-makers on cyber security and internal audiences on political developments and priorities, and shaping the business’s operating environment. Kat has an international understanding having studied in Germany and the Netherlands, worked in Argentina, Brussels and Strasbourg before settling in the UK. She takes a keen interest in the way the public and private sectors collaborate to improve cyber resilience, and is currently working on a campaign to make the UK’s Computer Misuse Act fit for the 21st century. She is equally passionate about the global trends that inform how governments and businesses respond to cyber security challenges in an ever evolving interconnected world.
Irfan Hemani is Deputy Director for Cyber Security at the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He is responsible for secure technology policy as part of the UK’s National Cyber strategy, international engagement, evidence and analysis. He is also the author of the Harvard Belfer Center’s National Cyber Power Index, alongside being a non-executive Director at a UK non-profit organisation focusing on Health and Mental Wellbeing in its local community. He previously worked in Deloitte’s Technology Risk Advisory team.
Michael is Deputy Director of Cyber Policy and Solutions in the Government Security Group within the Cabinet Office. Michael has been working in Government for over a decade now, having joined the Government Digital Service shortly after the launch of GOV.UK, and worked on securing government transformation during adoption of cloud, agile and devops movements.
Michael has worked in a variety of industries, from embedded systems to real time trading systems, games console programming to large content management systems. He holds a BSc, CISSP, and is an AWS Certified Practitioner. He has been a regular speaker at international conferences on the topics of Agile, DevOps, Security and Technical Architecture for nearly 10 years now. Michael is a published author and expert in cybersecurity, and he still writes code when someone lets him.
Srishti is currently the Head of Capabilities for Government Cyber – she spends her days thinking about everything from emerging technologies, cyber skills to what a good strategy looks like. She has worked in a range of policy and technology leadership roles across government. Srishti works on a PhD in poetry in her free time.
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