System Resilience: Digitising and Asset Management for the Future of Water

9.30am – Registration
Participants arrive, register, and network before the first session.

10.00am – Welcome
Opening remarks and scene-setting for the day’s focus on resilience and asset standards.

10.15am – What Do We Mean by 'Resilience'?

• How is resilience currently defined across different contexts such as assets, systems, and services?
• What examples of definitions are already in use?
• How can we clarify the language and assumptions around resilience?
• How does the research and development landscape compare between the electricity and water sectors?

Speaker: Lucas Neo, Ofwat

10.45am – Identifying Gaps in Current Asset Resilience (Interactive Input Session: Gaps and Overlaps)

• Where are the gaps in current national standards for asset resilience?
• What key elements are missing or unclear?
• Why does the sector often appear insular, and how can we address cultural gaps?
• How do we break down siloes between organisations such as the Environment Agency, water companies, and planning authorities?

11.15am – Break

11.45pm – Approaches to Systemic Risk & Resilience (Panel Discussion)

• How should the sector approach systemic risk?
• What are the interdependencies with energy, digital infrastructure, and manufacturing?
• What lessons can we learn from current best practices?
• How does our approach compare with asset health management in sectors like highways, Network Rail, and gas?

Speakers:

Kara Cartwright, Innovation Lead – Clean Growth, InnovateUK

Chris Brown, Senior Business Development Manager, MTC

12.20 - Learning from our assets

Speakers:

James Wardroper, Senior Account Manager, NUAR, Ordnance Survey GB

12.45pm – Lunch

1.30pm – Operation vs Risk and Resilience - Cyber Security

• What is the Cyber Resilience Act?
• Are we managing our assets appropriately in terms of cyber resilience?
• Is the sector cyber resilient?
• What is next for Cyber Resilience and water?

Speaker: Nathan Timbrell, Mangaging Consultant – Cyber, PA Consulting 

1.50pm - Building Resilience – in a Highly Automated Future

• What is resilience?
• Why is this important for the water sector?
• What can we learn from other sectors?
• Why do we need a sector framework for resilience?
• Benefits and challenges

Presentation by Dr David Ward, Horiba Mira

2.10pm – Delivering a Framework for National Standards

• What should a national framework for asset standards include?
• What are the core elements: minimum standards, benchmarking, and flexibility?
• What roles should regulators, utilities, and other stakeholders play?
• What can we learn from the DEFRA report on SuDS, and where does it provide strength?

Speakers:

Paul Horton, CEO, Future Water Association

2.30pm – Next Steps for Policy & Implementation (Workshop)

• How can we translate today’s insights into actionable policy?
• What should be prioritised in the short and medium term?
• What can we learn from the telecoms sector, particularly in terms of interoperability and monitoring hidden assets?
• Why has water lagged behind gas and electricity in these areas, and how can we catch up?

3.00pm – Summary
Final reflections and synthesis of key learnings and next steps.

3.15pm – Close