WESTERN society can no longer rely solely on Nato and governments to protect it against terrorism, a leading Nato official said yesterday.

Speaking at a conference in Newcastle Nato special advisor Chris Donnelly called for strategies to deal with the scourge of terrorism and urged business leaders to collaborate with government and international institutions in finding solutions.

Mr Donnelly said: "Many elements of our national and international institutions have been slow to evolve in response to the new threats to security and the new strategic situation.

"There has not been time to refocus intellectual effort on the new security situation and responses. Consequently, we are not well prepared to respond to current security threats.

"There is a particular need to improve collaboration between business, government and the think-tank world in addressing new threats and devising new responses."

About 250 delegates are meeting at St James' Park, Newcastle, where the European Telecommunications Resilience Association has been launched.

The Government-backed centre, at Northumbria University, will agree standards to ensure the security of communications and date in the event of disasters.