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