About the Speaker

Ciaran Martin is Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He advises several private sector organisations on cybersecurity strategies and is one of the leading global authorities in the field of cyber security policy.

Prior to this, Professor Martin founded the UK’s world-leading National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ) and headed it for the first four years of its existence. Leading a fundamental shift in the UK’s approach to cyber security, Professor Martin successfully advocated for a wholesale change of approach towards a more interventionist posture. The NCSC model has been studied widely and adopted in countries like Canada and Australia.

Professor Martin is also a 23-year veteran of the UK Government, working directly with five Prime Ministers and a variety of senior Ministers from three political parties. He held senior roles within the Cabinet Office, including Constitution Director (2011-2014), which included negotiating the basis of the Scottish Referendum with the Scottish Government and spearheading the equalising of the Royal Succession laws between males and females in the line; and director of Security and Intelligence at the Cabinet Office (2008-2011). Between 2002 and 2008 he was Principal Private Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service and Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury.

In addition, Professor Martin has also assumed an advisory role at both Garrison and Paladin Capital.

Abstract of Talk

The Company and The Security of Cyberspace – Power Shifts Between Public and Private Sectors in The Digital Age.

Friday, 20 October 2023

The Internet was largely designed (insofar as it was designed at all) and built by the private sector. Private entities wield enormous power over our data, and, less obviously, the physical infrastructure of our technological age. At the same time, ordinary companies have become more exposed to risks from nation state cyber interference and companies are not designed to be able to absorb such pressures. The accidental technological revolution has to some extent reshaped the balance between private and public actors. But this is not the first-time humanity has had to contend with this type of change – a century ago Governments were saying the same about oil companies. What is new, and what can, and should we do to get the balance right in the interests of our nations and citizens?