Comms Connect Melbourne preview

Don’t miss this world-class line-up of speakers, workshops and exhibitors.

The international Comms Connect conference and exhibition is on again in Melbourne, from 21 to 23 November 2017. Now in its 11th year, it is expected to draw more than 1400 attendees from a broad range of industry sectors, including utilities, public safety, government (local, state and federal), transport, mining, oil and gas, security, defence, IT, backhaul and telemetry, and the wider commercial environment.

The conference will feature individual presentations, panel sessions, keynotes and workshops covering a myriad of topics of interest to everyone in the critical communications field: latest technologies; regulation and government policy; case studies; cybersecurity; public safety; the Internet of Things; and many more.

This year, all exhibits and presentations will be in the same place — the Exhibition Halls at Melbourne’s Convention and Exhibition Centre. With 90+ exhibitors, 80+ speakers and delegates from around 20 countries taking part, Comms Connect Melbourne will be the place to be in November.

Preconference training workshops

The event will begin with a series of industry workshops on Tuesday, 21 November, the day before the main conference program commences. This year there will be seven workshops, and the topics and presenters/moderators will be:

• LTE 101 — Its strengths, weaknesses and application (Simon Lardner, Challenge Networks) and Private networks in the Gold Fields (Rodney Nebe, Gold Fields).
• Delivering project and engineering excellence on converged network upgrades (Andrew Smith, Tait Communications).
• Public safety mobile broadband: global trends, national decisions (moderated by Inspector (Ret.) Lance Valcour O.O.M. and Ian Miller, ARCIA).
• M2M & IoT — The impact on public safety (Jon Goudge, RFI Technology Solutions).
• Building a radio network from the ground up: an independent workshop on planning components required to deliver a private land mobile network (Chris, Surf Life Saving Australia).
• Improving situational awareness in emergencies using social media (Caroline Milligan, Crest Advisory).
• Back to the future — digital LMR and business-critical broadband (Australasian TETRA & Critical Communications Forum).

Places at these workshops will fill up quickly, so make sure you get your registration in as soon as possible. And keep checking the Comms Connect website for information on additional presenters and panellists as it comes to hand.

Conference program

The organisers always secure very high-profile speakers, and this year will be no exception with leaders from industry and government from around Australia and the world coming to Melbourne. The conference will begin on Wednesday, 22 November and will be split into three streams — Public Safety & Emergency Management, Industry, and Technology — with dozens of presentations spread over the two days. The full list of keynote and technical speakers will be available closer to the date, but here are just some of those already confirmed:

• Kate Foy, Managing Director, NSW Telco Authority
• Michael Doucet, Executive Director, Security Intelligence Review Committee, Canada
• TJ Kennedy, President, First Responder Network Authority, USA
• Jinhong Sim, Chief Manager of Safe-Net Project Division, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, South Korea
• Craig Stolte, A/Superintendent, GWN Executive Manager, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services
• Garry Kerr, Project Manager, Queensland Public Safety Business Agency
• Geoff Spring, Senior Industry Advisor, Centre for Disaster Management & Public Safety, University of Melbourne
• Geoff Waterhouse, Senior Project Manager, Radio Telecommunications Capital Works Programme, NSW Ambulance
• Johnson Tay, APAC BDM Validation Systems, Cobham Wireless
• Kate Feros, A/g Assistant Secretary, Spectrum Branch, Department of Communications and the Arts
• Matteo Mascherpa, Area Manager, GEG Telecommunications Italy
• Murray Wales, Principal Consultant, CSC Australia
• Ross Spearman, Chief Technology Officer, Tait Communications
• Tapio Mäkinen, Director, Airbus Defence and Space

For updates on more speakers as they are added, sign up for updates via the Comms Connect website, comms-connect.com.au.

ARCIA Gala Dinner and awards ceremony

All Comms Connect attendees are invited and encouraged to register for the Annual Gala Dinner of the Australian Radio Communications Industry Association (ARCIA), which will be held on the evening of Wednesday, 22 November. This festive occasion will include presentation of the national industry awards, and will also be the official celebration for ARCIA’s 10th birthday.

The Annual Gala Dinner is always a fun and enjoyable event… a chance to let your hair down after a busy first day at the conference/exhibition and to network with colleagues in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Full registration details are available on the ARCIA website (www.arcia.org.au).

So there you have it — a very impressive line-up of local and international experts, exhibitors and activities for Comms Connect’s 11th year. Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity to take part in Australasia’s leading critical communications conference and exhibition, and mingle with a who’s who of experts from industry, government and academia.

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Where: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

When: 21 November (preconference workshops), 22–23 November (conference and exhibition)

Web: comms-connect.com.au

Speakers: 80+

Exhibitors: 90+

Training workshops: 7

Conference streams: Public Safety & Emergency Management, Industry, Technology

Images courtesy Comms Connect.

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