Lead Sponsor Keynote - Scottish Power Energy Networks
Nicola Connelly
CYBERUK 2026 · Day 2 · Main Plenary
In a compelling keynote address at CYBERUK, Nicola Connelly, Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Power Energy Networks, underscored the critical importance of cyber resilience in safeguarding the UK's vital energy infrastructure. Delivered from Glasgow, the home city of Scottish Power, the talk resonated with the conference's theme, "the next decade, accelerating our cyber defense," by emphasizing that the future of energy is being shaped now through strategic investments and the continuous strengthening of foundational security. Connelly articulated a vision where resilience is not merely a reactive measure but an intrinsic component of growth, essential for building public trust and ensuring the sustained operation of essential services in an increasingly electrified and interconnected world.
AI review
A lead sponsor keynote from a utility CEO that delivers exactly what the label predicts: high-level strategic framing, no insider signal, no concrete commitments beyond a capital investment figure already in Scottish Power's public filings, and talking points that could have been written by any communications team in the energy sector. Judged generously as a strategic/executive keynote, it still fails to clear the bar — there's no budget broken out for security specifically, no named programs, no regulatory commitments, no data on threat actors targeting UK energy CNI, and nothing a CISO in…