Comms Connect Sydney — just days away!

Don’t miss Sydney’s premier critical communications event, 7–8 June at the Sydney Showground, Olympic Park.

Comms Connect returns to Sydney this month. The venue, at Sydney Olympic Park in the geographic and demographic heart of the greater Sydney region, is well served by public transport, plus there’s plenty of on-site parking. The conference and exhibition is a great opportunity for everyone in the business- and mission-critical communications sector in Sydney and beyond to come together and share and learn from one another.

Speaker sessions

The Sydney event always attracts a first-class list of speakers from industry, government and academia. This year’s line-up will be no exception, with experts from home and abroad coming together to share their knowledge and insights.

The first day will begin with two very high-profile speakers. Giving the opening keynote address will be TJ Kennedy, President of the USA’s First Responder Network Authority, who will speak on ‘FirstNet — leading the way for Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network’. He will be followed by the plenary presentation by Shane Fitzsimmons, Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service, who will speak on ‘Working together to keep New South Wales safe: Air Services communications and information management’.

The second day will commence with a keynote presentation by Kate Foy, Managing Director of the NSW Telco Authority, who will speak about ‘Wireless communications in NSW: today and tomorrow’.

Left to right: TJ Kennedy, Shane Fitzsimmons and Kate Hoy.

The other speaker sessions will be broken into two simultaneous streams across the two days. In the public safety stream, the following presentations will bring us up to date with the latest developments:

• An evolving path towards Public Safety Mobile Broadband in Australia (Luke Brown, Emergency Management Australia)
• In-vehicle communications technology convergence in the health context (Geoff Waterhouse and Tim Blake, NSW Ambulance)
• Body worn cameras and digital evidence management: Queensland Police experience (Senior Sergeant Wayne Hutchings, Queensland Police Service)
• Out of the ashes — Victoria’s operational communications pathway to the future (Laura Sexton, Emergency Management Victoria)
• Mobile broadband — some lessons from around the world (Ian Miller, ARCIA)
• Drones, robots and public safety mobile broadband — the future of firefighting (Superintendent Warwick Kidd and Station Officer Graham Tait, Fire & Rescue NSW)
• Mission-critical communications in Queensland: a success story (Craig Anderson, Public Safety Business Agency)
• Yarra Ranges emergency rebroadcast case study (Chris Stevens, Cart GiS)
• Is satellite able to fill the gap? (Neil Jamieson, Wireless Innovation)
• Terrorism, natural disasters and lessons from Europe — how technology must support change (Matt Wroughton, Excelerate Technology)
• Defending critical communications network infrastructure against cyber attacks (Bilal Javed, Nokia)

The technology stream will include the following presentations:

• The changing landscape of land mobile radio — threats and opportunities (Hamish Duff, ARCIA)
• Spectrum for private LTE networks — picking over the bones (Andrew May, Spectrum Engineering Australia)
• Trends in LTE (Justin Wyatt, Titan ICT)
• How digital radio is transforming NSW health (Robert Glover, Mastercom and Mathivanan Sakthivel, Westmead Hospital)
• Australian and global insights to rail, metro and light rail — plus case studies (Doug Bowden, Sepura)
• Broadband PTT: Standards based or propriety, why do you care? (Peter Fritz, Motorola Solutions)
• PTT integration user case study — more than just critical communications (Ben Cosier, Impulse Wireless)
• Integrated operations using smart connected networks (Stuart Zerbe, Harris)
• The digital wireless evolution in railway communications and signalling (Kevin Graham, Global Digital Solutions)
• Tackling interference issues in the field with real-time spectrum analysis (Steve Karandais, Keysight Technologies)
• Radio-based SCADA telemetry solutions for utilities, deployment and testing (John Yaldwyn, 4RF Australia)

The full list of speakers and workshops is available at sydney.comms-connect.com.au.

Workshops and panel session

There will be three workshops, covering a variety of topics:

• LTE 101 — Its strengths, weaknesses and application (Simon Lardner, Challenge Networks)
• Public safety information management: challenges and opportunities (panel discussion led by Inspector (Ret.) Lance Valcour O.O.M.)
• Building a radio network from the ground up. An independent workshop on planning components required to deliver a private land mobile network (Chris Stevens, Surf Life Saving Australia)

The second day of Comms Connect Sydney will conclude with a panel session that will be of great interest to everyone in the critical communications sector. The topic will be ‘Public safety mobile broadband — the way forward for critical communications in Australia’, and it will bring together experts who will assess the status of public safety mobile broadband and the development of a national strategy for Australia.

Exhibition

One of the best parts of Comms Connect is the opportunity to meet and greet with exhibitors. In particular, it’s a great chance for equipment users and suppliers/manufacturers to compare notes, give feedback, get up-to-date information on the latest technologies (including, often, pre-release or developmental details) and generally build connections within the industry. More than 50 companies, large and small, are booked in as exhibitors… so make sure you come along to meet and greet and create some sales opportunities.

Networking

One of the best parts of events such as these is the opportunity to catch up with colleagues old and new, from near and far, and share knowledge and experiences.  While this can be done all throughout the event, there will be two special opportunities for networking and socialising. First will be the networking drinks, held in the exhibition hall at 5.00 pm on the first day. And this will be followed by the ARCIA Industry Networking Dinner, to be held at 6.30pm that same day at the Freshwater Novotel at Sydney Olympic Park, just a short stroll from the Comms Connect venue. Make sure you book for the ARCIA event, at arcia.org.au/news-events/industry-events.html.

Comms Connect Sydney is a golden opportunity for you to hear from the experts, discuss your requirements with leading vendors and suppliers, and share the challenges faced by industry colleagues and professionals who use communications technology in their working environments. See you there!

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Comms Connect Sydney

Conference: 7 June (9.00 am–5.00 pm), 8 June (9.30 am–4.30 pm)

Exhibition: 7 June (9.00 am–5.00 pm), 8 June (9.00 am–3.30 pm)

Where: Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park

Who: More than 500 delegates and 50-plus exhibitors

Web: sydney.comms-connect.com.au

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