Navigating Disruption: How Technology Is Redefining Supply Chain Resilience
The global supply chain has long been the lifeblood of international trade but today, it’s also one of its most vulnerable points. In recent years, a perfect storm of disruption has hit: pandemic shocks, geopolitical instability, economic nationalism, regulatory shifts, and climate-related events have all revealed just how fragile traditional supply models can be.
But disruption doesn’t just expose vulnerabilities, it also opens the door to innovation.
As we navigate this era of accelerated risk and volatility, technology is playing a central role in helping businesses rethink, rewire, and reinforce their supply chains. For UK firms operating globally, digital transformation isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s now mission-critical.
From Fragility to Flexibility
We’ve moved from a just-in-time world to a just-in-case one. The global nature of modern supply chains means that a single delay or disruption can have cascading effects. Businesses today face a balancing act: how do you maintain efficiency while also building in enough flexibility to absorb shocks?
The answer lies in reimagining the supply chain as a dynamic, data-driven system, not a static pipeline. And it starts with visibility.
Visibility Is the First Line of Defence
You can’t manage what you can’t see. Modern supply chains rely on thousands of moving parts, across continents, regulatory regimes, and compliance standards. Technologies like IoT, blockchain, and AI-driven analytics now provide the transparency and traceability that allow businesses to anticipate disruption rather than just react to it.
IoT enables real-time tracking of goods, monitoring temperature, location, and condition, essential for both perishable goods and high-value items.
Blockchain introduces immutable, decentralised records that help eliminate fraud, validate supplier claims, and streamline cross-border documentation.
Predictive analytics use historical and real-time data to flag delays, assess risk exposure, and recommend alternative routes or suppliers instantly.
Risk Isn’t Just Operational, It’s Ethical
Today’s supply chain disruption isn’t limited to logistics. Ethical sourcing, sustainability, and compliance have become board-level concerns. Regulators, investors, and consumers are demanding that companies uphold environmental and social governance standards not only within their own operations but across their supplier ecosystems.
Third-party risk management (TPRM) platforms and supplier due diligence tools are becoming indispensable for identifying potential risks related to human rights violations, emissions, environmental damage, or data security lapses. These tools provide deep insight into supplier behaviour, enabling organisations to flag risks early and engage proactively with vendors to ensure remediation or replacement.
Agility Through Automation
Tech-enabled agility is the antidote to disruption. Automating risk assessments, supplier onboarding, and compliance checks allows teams to move quickly especially when rapid supplier substitution or rerouting is necessary. It also frees up time and resources to focus on strategic issues rather than firefighting.
Scenario modelling and AI-powered decision tools are now helping firms simulate the impact of trade restrictions, natural disasters, or economic shifts, and design alternative routes and sourcing plans accordingly. The ability to test, learn, and pivot quickly has become a vital business capability.
The Future: Resilient by Design
Supply chain resilience is no longer about having backup plans, it's about designing systems that are inherently more intelligent, transparent, and adaptable. This includes:
Building supplier networks with built-in redundancy
Embedding ESG monitoring into sourcing decisions
Creating shared data ecosystems across suppliers, regulators, and partners
Shifting from annual audits to continuous monitoring
techUK International Policy and Trade Programme activities
techUK supports members with their international trade plans and aspirations. We help members to understand market opportunities, tackle market access barriers, and build partnerships in their target market. Visit the programme page here.
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Sabina Ciofu is Associate Director – International, running the International Policy and Trade Programme at techUK.
Based in Brussels, she leads our EU policy and engagement. She is also our lead on international trade policy, with a focus on digital trade chapter in FTAs, regulatory cooperation as well as broader engagement with the G7, G20, WTO and OECD.
As a transatlanticist at heart, Sabina is a GMF Marshall Memorial fellow and issue-lead on the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, within DigitalEurope.
Previously, she worked as Policy Advisor to a Member of the European Parliament for almost a decade, where she specialised in tech regulation, international trade and EU-US relations.
Sabina loves building communities and bringing people together. She is the founder of the Gentlewomen’s Club and co-organiser of the Young Professionals in Digital Policy. Previously, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, she led several youth civic engagement and gender equality projects.
She sits on the Advisory Board of the University College London European Institute, Café Transatlantique, a network of women in transatlantic technology policy and The Nine, Brussels’ first members-only club designed for women.
Sabina holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College London and a BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge.
Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade, techUK
Daniel Clarke
Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade, techUK
Dan joined techUK as a Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade in March 2023.
Before techUK, Dan worked for data and consulting company GlobalData as an analyst of tech and geopolitics. He has also worked in public affairs, political polling, and has written freelance for the New Statesman and Investment Monitor.
Dan has a degree in MSc International Public Policy from University College London, and a BA Geography degree from the University of Sussex.
Outside of work, Dan is a big fan of football, cooking, going to see live music, and reading about international affairs.
Theo joined techUK in 2024 as EU Policy Manager. Based in Brussels, he works on our EU policy and engagement.
Theo is an experienced policy adviser who has helped connect EU and non-EU decision makers.
Prior to techUK, Theo worked at the EU delegation to Australia, the Israeli trade mission to the EU, and the City of London Corporation’s Brussels office. In his role, Theo ensures that techUK members are well-informed about EU policy, its origins, and its implications, while also facilitating valuable input to Brussels-based decision-makers.
Theo holds and LLM in International and European law, and an MA in European Studies, both from the University of Amsterdam.
Lewis' programmes cover a range of policy areas within Market Access (international trade regulation, sanctions and export controls, technical standards and product compliance, supply chains) and Consumer Tech (media and broadcast policy, consumer electronics, and connected home technology).
Prior to joining techUK, Lewis worked in government affairs and policy roles for international trade associations in Southeast Asia including the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia.
He holds an undergraduate degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Public Policy & Management from SOAS University of London.
Tess joined techUK as an Policy and Public Affairs Team Assistant in November of 2024. In this role, she supports areas such as administration, member communications and media content.
Before joining the Team, she gained experience working as an Intern in both campaign support for MPs and Councilors during the 2024 Local and General Election, and working for the Casimir Pulaski Foundation on defence and international secuirty. She has worked for multiple charities, on issues such as the climate crisis, educational inequality and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). In 2023, Tess obtained her Bachelors of Arts in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham.
