Comms Connect Melbourne — don't miss it!

A world-class range of speakers, panels and workshops has been lined up for Australia’s premier communications event.

Next-generation communications technologies and systems will be at the forefront of the presentations and discussions at Comms Connect Melbourne again this year, 26–28 November.

The event will kick off with a series of workshops on Tuesday, 26 November. These are always very popular, and this year will include not only discussion but also hands-on training in some cases. Of particular interest is the special two-day microwave radio masterclass, presented by Trevor Manning, Managing Director, TMC Global; see the Comms Connect website (melbourne.comms-connect.com.au) for special delegate rates.

On the Wednesday and Thursday of the conference, an array of local and international experts will gather to speak on a wide range of topics, covering the gamut of 21st-century communications.

As with previous years, the sessions will be broken into three streams: public safety and emergency management, technology and industry.

There will be a large contingent of international speakers in the public safety space, including representatives from FirstNet, the Public Safety Technology Alliance, Safe-Net Forum, BroadWay, TCCA and more. And, of course, Australia’s public safety mobile broadband efforts will be front and centre too.

Plenary addresses will be given by Peter Clemons (Chief Designer, Quixoticity Index/Global Advisor, Genaker) and Alex Stefan (National General Manager, Government and Public Safety & Security, Telstra Global Enterprise and Services).

There will be three panel sessions. The first, to be moderated by Chris Stevens (Managing Director, CartGIS), will tackle the topic of ‘Next-generation Triple 000: The road ahead’. The second panel, ‘Data sharing and security in an IoT world’, will be led by Ghislaine Entwisle (Director, Protiviti) and moderated by Geof Heydon (Principal Consultant, IoT Alliance Australia).

The third panel discussion will be the final item on the Comms Connect Melbourne 2019 agenda. Panellists and the audience will be asked to contemplate and discuss ‘Critical communications for all, not just public safety’.

The full range of communications technologies will be put under the microscope too, from TETRA to DMR, LTE to 5G, satellite to Wi-Fi and more.

The exhibition hall will have more than 90 exhibitors all eager to show off their latest and greatest solutions, and keen to speak with the expected 1500 delegates who will attend across the two days of the event.

Don’t forget that the annual ARCIA Gala Industry Dinner and Industry Awards presentation will be held on the evening of Wednesday, 27 November, preceded by networking drinks. You can book your tickets through ARCIA’s website (arcia.org.au).

This year, Comms Connect will be co-located with the annual conference and exhibition of BICSI South Pacific, the peak industry body representing designers and installers of information and communications technology systems.

BICSI South Pacific’s membership encompasses ICT professionals in the commercial and government sectors, with interests spanning not just voice and data but also audio, video, life safety and automation systems.

This year’s BICSI South Pacific conference and exhibition will enable delegates to experience presentations from local and international thought leaders on numerous important topical issues, such as standards and regulations; IoT, smart buildings and smart cities; data centres; and 5G infrastructure.

In addition, there will be content on infrastructure for intelligent transport and autonomous vehicles; Power over Ethernet and digital power; wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Li-Fi and free-space optics; and intellectual property.

For full details, visit the event website: bicsiconference.com.au.