Cynthia & Ed DND

Cynthia Kearns-O'Hara, Manager Corporate BCP, DND 
Ed Emond, Defence Scientist, DND 

 

 
     


BIO - Cynthia Kearns-O'Hara:  

  • 37 years in the federal government and 28 years at DND in various strategic and operational positions. Retiring on March 31st.
  • Holds a double undergraduate degree in Political Science and Governance and Public Policies from University of Ottawa and a Master's Certificate in Conflict Resolution from Carleton University
  • Last four years as the departmental / corporate BCP Manager at DND - an organization with 100,000 plus military members and civilian employees.
In her current role, Cynthia is focused exclusively on BCP and the expanded role of departmental/corporate BCP Manager where she has overseen the development, growth and implementation of the departmental BCP program. She has:
  • Coordinated the identification and validation of critical services in the National Capital Region and ranked national level Defence Services. 
  • Led the intra-departmental multi-disciplinary Task Group to develop the national DND/CAF Business Impact Analysis template and aide-memoire. Year one of a three-year implementation plan across the entire organization to commence in April 2017.

BIO - Ed Emond

  • Retired from DND after a 40+ year career as a Defence Scientist with the Centre for Operational Research and Analysis 
  • Designed specialized methodology to analyze ranking and fragmentation 
  • Authored scientific journal articles on the analysis of rankings in operational research 
  • Returned on contract to assist with the BCP critical services project. Contract ending March 31st. 

Presentation  Title  How to prioritize critical services in a large government 

Synopsis - Cynthia Kearns- O'Hara and Ed Emond of DND have spent the last 2 years working on a new approach to developing a BIA related ranked time critical listing of services and prioritized list of critical services.  This innovative and new approach has now been approved, implemented and is demonstrating success.  This presentation will be of special interest to any member struggling with the BIA tiger and may well demonstrate an option for you on how the DND model can be adapted for your organization's needs.

Key Points that an Attendee will take away from Cynthia & Ed's presentation:

  • How science can complement the art of business continuity 
  • The challenge of reconciling the subjectivity of multiple parties; where everyone thinks they’re critical
  • Interdependencies: The importance of critical service owners communicating and coming to understand how they depend on one another