3:20 - 3:50 PM | The Cyber-Ready School — Building the Digital Foundations of Tomorrow
FIRESIDE CHAT
The Conversation
Cyber risk used to sit quietly with the IT department. It doesn't anymore. Every device, every platform, every piece of student data is now a safeguarding question as much as a technical one and the schools getting this right treat it as a leadership responsibility, not an outsourced problem.
This fireside chat explores cyber risk as a leadership responsibility, not just an IT problem, connecting data protection directly to child safeguarding. It considers what it means to build trust into every device, platform and data point in a school, and frames cyber security as a commitment to community rather than a cost.
Key discussion points include:
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Cyber risk as a leadership responsibility, not just an IT problem
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Connecting data protection directly to child safeguarding
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What it means to build trust into every device, platform and data point in a school
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Cyber security as a commitment to community, not a cost
Speakers
Tania Mackie Director, International Safeguarding and Digital Transformation, Lightspeed Systems Tania Mackie has 25 years’ experience in UK education, holding senior roles including head teacher, strategic lead for digital education, quality improvement manager, and leader of specialist services in assistive technology, vision support, deaf education, EAL, and virtual schools. These roles shaped her systems-level understanding of integrating safeguarding, curriculum, and technology. A passionate EdTech and PedTech advocate, Tania holds a PGCE and works with Lightspeed Systems to support schools internationally. She champions a safe, visible, wellbeing-focused digital world for young people. In The Cyber-Ready School, she explores how schools can build technological and safeguarding foundations for a secure digital future.
Chrish Dias Strategic Digital Transformation & Tech Adoption Leader, North London Collegiate School Dubai Chrish Dias is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E) specialising in secure digital transformation, responsible technology adoption, cybersecurity, data privacy, and child safeguarding across international education. With extensive experience delivering successful digital transformations and designing technology ecosystems for greenfield school builds, he bridges enterprise technology with global regulatory compliance, including GDPR, UAE PDPL, and KCSIE. Keeping safeguarding at the heart of every transformation, Chrish advises school boards and executives on scaling educational technology safely by embedding privacy by design and turning cybersecurity and data protection into strategic institutional strengths
Gomathi Singaram Head of IT/CS Department, Liwa International School Gomathi Singaram is the Head of IT and Whole-School AI Lead at Liwa International School – Falaj Hazza in Al Ain, UAE. In this leadership role, she drives the strategic implementation of artificial intelligence across the school and supports educators in integrating emerging technologies safely, ethically, and effectively into teaching and learning. With a strong focus on digital innovation, cybersecurity awareness, and AI literacy, Gomathi is committed to empowering students to become confident, creative, responsible, and future-ready digital citizens.