The 4th of July was a momentous day; it was American Independence Day and the date of the General Election. However, here at the NCRCG, it was also significant because it was the day of our CRC Network Annual Summit. Organised long before the election was called, the Summit brought together many stakeholders from policing, government, and the commercial sector to discuss cyber resilience, exploring how we can collectively make the UK a safe place to work and live.
Of course, that is our mission all year round, but it’s the one opportunity throughout the year to meet all of the stakeholders under one roof. Our work has many strands, such as the National Ambassador and Cyber PATH programmes, the SME outreach and service delivery work of the nine regional centres, and the work of the National Cyber Resilience Centre Group. The people responsible for delivering these different elements collaborate daily, but it is rare to get all of them together at one time.
So, the Annual Summit is an opportunity for policing, government, and private sector representatives to gather and update each other on progress so far, set goals for the coming year, and share experiences, knowledge, and expertise.
This year’s Annual Summit was a resounding success. We achieved a great deal and left reinvigorated for the challenges ahead. This year, the Summit was held in The Rep Theatre in Birmingham, a venue that proved popular and well-equipped. It certainly played its part in making the day enjoyable and worthwhile.
Throughout the day, we enjoyed presentations from a variety of people, all playing their part in delivering on our mission. We hosted a number of panel discussion sessions welcoming questions from the floor when we had an excellent engagement with our National Ambassadors, Centre heads, police and government representatives.
We were also delighted to welcome keynote speaker Sam McAlister. Sam is a TEDx speaker, BAFTA-nominated interview producer, executive producer and LSE visiting senior fellow who has negotiated with everyone from Buckingham Palace to The White House, Tesla to Facebook. With skills honed over a decade in the BBC’s elite news programmes, notably BBC Newsnight, she is used to persuading reluctant individuals to participate in a news programme renowned for its rigour and bite.
Most famously, the exclusive includes that interview with HRH Prince Andrew, but also Sheryl Sandberg, Prime Minister Trudeau, President Clinton, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Elon Musk, James Comey, Stormy Daniels, Julian Assange, Trevor Noah, Amy Schumer, and Eric Schmidt.
Sam was incredibly open, honest and transparent in answering the questions posed to her by our CyberVersed Podcast host, Mandy Haeburn-Little, and from the floor.
Speaking about the CRC Network Annual Summit, NCRCG’s CEO, Ian Kirby, said: “I’m delighted with the whole day and what we achieved. It’s fantastic to have all of our partners in one room and to hear from so many people about the progress they are making in their geographic regions and with the many projects and campaigns we run.
“In a world of online meetings and digital communication, it’s refreshing and rewarding to be able to meet face-to-face with everyone and to hear all about the great work they are all doing and experience first-hand the genuine optimism and enthusiasm for the CRC Network model. Thank you to all of the team who helped to make it the success it was.”
Below, we have shared some images from the Annual Summit, and over the coming days, we will share some of the video interviews we did with various attendees.
