Breakout: Cyber Resilience in Transition: Securing Public Services Through Reorganisation and Digital Disruption

This session lead by Kurtis Toy, Chief Executive of the Cyber Centre of Excellence, will explore two critical dimensions of cyber resilience: maintaining cyber security through periods of local government reorganisation and strengthening preparedness for large-scale digital disruption through the principles of the UK’s Analogue 72 initiative.

As councils and public sector organisations undergo structural change, they face increased cyber risk arising from system migrations, organisational integration, changes in governance, third-party dependencies and evolving operating models. The discussion will examine how organisations can maintain strong security, resilience and service continuity during periods of transformation, while ensuring that critical services remain protected and accessible.

The session will also consider the Analogue 72 framework, which addresses a fundamental question: how can society continue to function during the first 72 hours of a severe nationwide digital disruption? Participants will explore the concept of minimum viable societal functions, organisational readiness to operate in degraded conditions, and the importance of governance, public communication and cross-sector coordination when digital systems are unavailable or untrustworthy.

Bringing these themes together, the roundtable will examine practical approaches to building resilience before, during and after major disruption, drawing on lessons from local government transformation, international resilience models and emerging cyber threats. The discussion will focus on how public sector leaders can strengthen preparedness, protect essential services and support whole-of-society resilience in an increasingly complex digital landscape.