Planned agenda

0830 – 0900 – Registration, tea and coffee

0900 – 0910 Welcoming Remarks

0910 – 0930 Keynote ‘Scotland and National Security’

0930-1030 Panel 1 – The political and geopolitical context

How does Scottish public opinion view national security and resilience?

What are Scotland’s main security vulnerabilities?

How does Scotland contribute to the defence of the UK?

What is Scotland’s role in the security of the High North and NATO defence planning?

How can Scotland best contribute to European security?

1030-1100 Coffee Break

1100-1200 Panel 2 – Governance and cooperation in crisis

What are the main lessons from the response to Covid in how the UK responds to crises across the national and devolved governments?

How is the Scottish government structured to deal with crises and how best can these interact with Whitehall structures?

How should Scottish requirements be incorporated into the UK Defence Readiness Bill? How best can the Scottish Parliament be represented?

What accountability mechanisms does the Scottish Parliament have? Is the accountability from the UK Parliament adequate?

How does the Scottish government define and plan for ‘resilience’? Should it officially become a devolved competency?

1200 – 1300 Networking Lunch

1300 – 1400 Panel 3 - Defence Industry and skills

 What is the Ministry of Defence’s spend profile in Scotland? Why is it declining?

How best can Scotland’s communities benefit from rising defence spending?

How best can the Scottish Defence Growth Deal be delivered?

How resilient is UK shipbuilding in Scotland? Where are the main dependencies?

How can Scotland ensure it retains the skills, talent and workforce to make the most of rising defence expenditure in the UK and Europe?

1400 - 1430 Coffee

1430 – 1530 Panel 4 – Scotland’s contribution to the Space sector

How has Scotland become such a significant player in the global space sector, especially in ‘new space’ (small satellites and commercial launch, rather than traditional big-government space programs)?

Will the UK Government’s strategic approach to the sector help maintain Scotlands’ ‘first mover advantage’ for orbital launch?

Five of the UK's seven developing spaceports are located in Scotland. How can this advantage best be exploited?

1530 – Closing remarks