The unrehearsed verdict: An Oxford-style debate on operational technology and critical infrastructure security

This is not a standard panel. There are no slides, no prepared presentations, and no AI-polished talking points.

This is an Oxford-style competitive debate... and it will be unlike anything else on the CyberCon program.

Six of Australia's most respected Operational Technology and critical infrastructure security practitioners take the stage as two teams: Proposition and Opposition. Each speaker is assigned their side; they do not get to choose.

The motion is shared with all speakers one week before the event, giving them time to draw on their expertise and sharpen their thinking. What they cannot do is rehearse against the other side's arguments, because they won't know what those are until they're standing in the room.

The audience votes at the start. The debate runs. The audience votes again at the end. The winning side is the one that moved the most votes.

The 40-minute session follows a compressed Oxford format: five-minute opening speeches from each of the six speakers in alternating order, followed by three-minute summary speeches, with Points of Information permitted throughout.

The Chair manages timing, enforces the rules, and keeps the energy in the room.

This session is brought to CyberCon by the OT Cyber Speakeasy, a practitioner-led community that has run debate events in Brisbane and Sydney. This is its national debut.