Incorporating Geopolitical Risk Into Your IT Strategy

Scenario Planning Must Model Disruption, Strengthen Cyber Basics, Build Redundancy Jennifer Lawinski • January 14, 2026

IT organizations know how to plan for unexpected outages, but even the most rigorously designed strategy is vulnerable to the shifting winds of geopolitics. CIOs and technology leaders need to know how their organizations will respond to geopolitical disruptions, and scenario planning needs to be a priority.

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William Dixon, senior associate fellow for cyber and international security at British think tank Royal United Services Institute, advises CIOs to adopt a "chief geopolitical officer" mindset, integrating geopolitical intelligence into the technology life cycle. Practical steps include scenario planning that simulates the total loss of access to specific regions or vendors, and building ...