The vital role the island’s governance professionals can play in ’Managing Risk, Leading Change’ is the theme of this year’s ICSA: The Governance Institute’s annual conference in the Isle of Man.

Next month’s conference will focus on the importance of values and ethics, as well as the challenges and benefits that cyber security, equality laws, reputation management and stakeholder engagement might offer Isle of Man businesses.

Christine Clucas, chairman of ICSA’s island branch said: ’With regulation continuing to tighten and political uncertainly in the UK and Europe creating greater instability in the market, there has never been a more pressing time for effective governance to help steady the ship.

’Governance practitioners have an unprecedented opportunity to lead thinking and innovation in governance, risk and compliance and this conference is the ideal forum for them to discuss the ways in which they can do this,’

Speakers include:

lKeynote speaker Sir Richard Gozney, Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man who will be speaking on the importance of having values that actively promote strong ethics and business integrity

lRob Shapland, principal cyber security consultant at First Base Technologies who will be focusing on the role of the board in developing cyber security policies

lPeter Swabey, policy and research director at ICSA who will be presenting innovative approaches to stakeholder engagement and the ’The Stakeholder Voice in Board Decision Making’ report

lDr Kerrie Unsworth, professor at Leeds University Business School who will be describing how to apply principles based in psychology to improve personal effectiveness

lChris Hodge, ICSA policy advisor who will be taking a detailed look at proposed changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code and reflecting on the wider context of governance reform

lCaren Pegg, partner at Appleby (Isle of Man) LLC who will be looking at the key Equality Act provisions businesses need to be aware of

lDavid Heaton, partner at Deloitte LLP who will be addressing the importance of building risk management into governance frameworks in order to protect reputation

lDavid Ireland, director of national insurance at The Treasury, Isle of Man Government who will be revealing the latest developments in changes to the Manx state pension

lCharis Evans, ICSA business development director will be presenting ICSA’s new initiatives to build lasting value for members, students and employers.

The conference is at the Sefton, Douglas, on May 9.