Duncan Shaw, Professor of Operational Research and Critical Systems at AMBS, has been appointed to chair a Cabinet Office committee.
The committee forms part of the government's ongoing assessment of the most ongoing assessment of the most serious risks to the UK.
In the wake of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (Module 1), the previous government changed the structure of the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) by introducing a more dynamic assessment process that allowed risks to be regularly re-assessed, drawing on new and critical information.
Effectively, the NSRA moved from a static process completed every two years to a dynamic risk assessment process that enables risks to be refreshed more regularly. This allows the Government to track changes to the risk landscape over time.
Professor Shaw, who has been appointed as external chair of the Human Welfare Group that forms part of the NSRA Expert Advisory Programme, has previously advised the Cabinet Office on societal risk as an academic expert.
In 2021, he was also widely cited in a House of Lords Select Committee report on how the UK can better build resilience and plan for risks. That report discussed how the pandemic had placed a spotlight on the government's planning for the most serious risks facing the UK, and had exposed opportunities to improve the UK's risk management system.
Collaborative
Professor Shaw said he was delighted and honoured to be taking up the new chair:
"Being appointed to this role is testament to the work of our team in supporting the resilience and human welfare during the pandemic and since. The Human Welfare Group addresses such an important topic of how to keep people safe and secure in our changing world.
"It is a collaborative endeavour, comprising of a wide range of experts from medicine, psycho-social support, resilience, global development, and much more.
"The Group receives regular information from Government departments, and we pool our knowledge to advise those departments on whether the assessment of specific risks is reasonable, or whether we need more information and analysis. This then feeds into the publicly available National Risk Register.
"Five years on from the pandemic momentum continues to build around this important area, and this broader assessment of risk is going on across all Government departments."
Conference
Professor Shaw is also co-founder of the National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+] (NCSR+). The consortium was established to enhance the UK's whole-of-society approach to resilience - so that individuals, community groups, businesses, and organisations can all play a meaningful part in building the resilience of our society.
On 10 March, the consortium welcomes over 160 people in its third annual conference at The University of Manchester. The conference will bring together speakers from across the voluntary and business sectors, as well as senior government representatives and partners from policy and practice.