Anna Butchart | Subsea
Independent

Dr Butchart is an independent academic and advisor specialising in critical subsea infrastructure, national security, maritime, and international relations. She retired from the British Government in April 2025, after 18 years in both the civil and diplomatic services leading security policy development and implementation on issues including subsea telecoms cables, maritime, cyber-State threats, civil nuclear, and energy. As well as serving overseas in Georgia, Australia, and as the UK Deputy Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan. Anna also holds a PhD in Alternative Futures from the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she studied the impact of fisheries management and maritime policy on potential conflict futures in West and Central Africa.

Appearances:

Submarine Networks EMEA 2026 - Day 2 @ 09:00

Geopolitics and the submarine cable industry

A growing number of governments now recognise subsea telecommunications cables as critical infrastructure, vital to national security, the economy and the delivery of public services. What should such a qualification mean for public-private cooperation around threat detection and incident response?
Is intentional damage to subsea cables by States or State-backed actors really increasing as often reported by the media?
In what way would the response to such threats differ from the kinds of threats the industry traditionally deals with?
What are the opportunities of current geopolitical developments for the subsea cable industry? Are there evident winners and losers?
From a corporate strategy perspective, how should the industry be thinking about future geopolitical risks?

Anna Butchart, Subsea, Independent