Speakers

Edward Preece is Interim Chief Operating Officer at the Police Digital Service (PDS) which implements the digital and cyber security strategies for UK policing on behalf of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Ed joined PDS on secondment from the Cabinet Office to deliver an organisational repositioning for PDS and develop the PDS business plan for 25/26 that is delivering ongoing operational enhancements while preparing the organisation for transition into the future policing reform landscape. Previous roles have included being a Deputy Director at the Home Office in the Illegal Migration Operations Command Headquarters (IMOC HQ) which he helped to establish back in 2023 following his leadership of a emergency unit in the Home Office working on serious and organised crime in the Western Balkans. Ed has worked in several crisis and interim management roles in the Cabinet Office which included establishing and leading a secretariat for an emergency taskforce combatting illegal migration as well as a major events joint unit in the Cabinet Office which was responsible for fostering greater collaboration between central government departments and operational delivery partners in the planning and activation of major events and incidents which included Operation London Bridge. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he served as a senior policy adviser in the Cabinet Office's COVID-19 Taskforce. He has also worked in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Health & Social Care, and the Department for Exiting the European Union.