On Thursday June 25, the new deputy director-general of the BBC
will join industry leaders across communications, rail and other
infrastructure to answer questions on their resilience plans in
the event of power outages and other emergencies.
At 10.30am, in Committee Room 2, peers will hear from:
- Sophie Greaves, Associate Director for Digital
Infrastructure, techUK
- Rhodri Talfan Davies, Deputy Director General, BBC
-
Towers, Director of Policy and
Public Affairs, BT Group
At 11.30am, the Committee will hear from:
- Margaret Read, Strategy and Policy Director, National
Infrastructure and Service Transformation
- Polly Copeman, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy and
Operations, Open Horizon
- Martin Frobisher, Group Safety and Engineering Director,
Network Rail
Questions likely to be raised include:
- How can messages on resilience be made during emergencies?
- What challenges does the UK face from a fragmented news
environment and a network disruption, and disinformation and
misinformation from AI-generated media?
- What plans exist for maintaining communication after national
disruptions to essential networks?
- How resilient is our water supply?
- What is the railway's plan for a nationwide power outage
lasting several days?
The committee session takes place in the Houses of Parliament and
can be followed here on Parliament TV, live
or later.
The inquiry has been set up to assess geopolitical, economic and
technological threats and examine how the the UK might best
prepare for, and respond to, national crises and disruptions.
It has already heard that resilience cannot be viewed narrowly as
an emergency response capability, and is looking at several areas
such as energy networks, vulnerabilities in digital
infrastructure, disinformation and other threats - and how
closer cooperation between government, public and private sectors
could mitigate risks. .
The session on Thursday forms part of an inquiry that will report
in November 2026.
