The Annual Cyber in Government Conference and Exhibition 2026
CorpAcq Stadium, Greater Manchester 17 June 2026, 9:00am - 4:00pm
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8:30am
Registration
9:30am
Chairs Opening Remarks
9:40am
Opening Keynote: State Threats, National Resilience and the Future of Public Sector Cyber Security
- The UK’s Evolving State Threat Landscape
- Building cross-government cyber resilience
- What’s next in government policy and expectations?
Gemma Ungoed-Thomas, Former NCSC & Cabinet Office State Threats, Cyber & Technology Director
10:00am
Operational Resilience in Critical Government Services
- Understanding how resilience must be embedded across the full service lifecycle, from systems and processes to people and partnerships
- How collaboration across departments, functions, and agencies strengthens collective resilience and response capabilities
- Lessons from HMRC on planning, coordination, and maintaining continuity of critical services during major incidents
Dr Robert MacFarlane OBE, Director Resilience, HM Revenue & Customs
10:20am
Headline Sponsor Speaking Session
Representative from Netskope
10:40am
Question & Answers Session
11:00am
Break & Networking
11:30am
Preparing for the Quantum Era and Transitioning to Post-Quantum Cryptography in Government
- Understand why advances in quantum computing could undermine widely used cryptographic standards and what this means for government systems, sensitive data, and long-term information security
- Gain an overview of new cryptographic algorithms being developed to withstand quantum attacks, and the global efforts underway to standardise them
- Explore practical steps public sector organisations can take to begin preparing for post-quantum cryptography and planning long-term migration strategies
- Questions and answers
Sefton Dosi CISM, Head of Cyber and Information Security, UK Civil Service
11:50am
Main Stage Sponsor Speaking Session
- Questions and answers
12:10pm
Evaluating Government Cyber Resilience and Value for Money in an Evolving Threat Landscape
- Discuss the key findings and conclusions from the January 2025 NAO government cyber resilience report
- Assess the progress made under the Government Cyber Security Strategy
- Explore the recommendations on what departments must do to catch up with the escalating threat, how improved governance, accountability, and investment can safeguard the future
- Questions and answers
Jonathan Pownall, Senior Digital Specialist, National Audit Office
12:30pm
Lunch & Networking
1:30pm
Main Stage Sponsor Speaking Session
- Questions and answers
1:50pm
Cyber Security Leadership in an AI-Enabled World
- Moving beyond frameworks to embed meaningful, outcome-focused security across public sector organisations
- Opportunities, risks, and practical applications of AI in strengthening cyber defence and decision-making
- Building capability through professionalisation, certifications, and continuous development in an increasingly complex threat landscape
- Questions and answers
Simon Salmon, President, East Midlands ISC2 Chapter
2:10pm
Break & Networking
2:40pm
Managing Cyber Risk in Local Government
- How local authorities can prioritise and manage cyber risk effectively within limited budgets and competing pressures
- Ensuring leadership visibility, clear ownership, and alignment between cyber security, IT, and organisational risk frameworks
- Lessons learned in improving incident readiness, managing third-party risk, and protecting critical services
- Questions and answers
Joseph Taylor, Head of Cyber Security and Risk, West Northamptonshire Council
3:00pm
Preparing for Future Cyber Threats: Strengthening Strategic Collaboration Across the Public Sector
- Exploring emerging risks facing public sector organisations, including AI-enabled attacks, evolving ransomware tactics and threats to critical national infrastructure
- The importance of cooperation between government departments, local authorities, law enforcement, regulators and industry to improve threat intelligence sharing and coordinated response
- How strategic partnerships, workforce development and secure digital transformation can help future-proof public sector organisations against evolving cyber risks
- Questions and answers
3:20pm
Chairs Closing Remarks
3:30pm
Close