Comms Connect Sydney — don't miss it!

Sydney’s premier critical communications event — don’t miss it!

Now in its 10th year, Comms Connect is established as Australasia’s leading conference and exhibition for communications users and industry. This year sees the return of Comms Connect to Sydney, following on from the highly successful events held in 2014 and 2015. 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.

Comms Connect sees hundreds of like-minded professionals — from government, the resources sector, first responders, transportation, utilities, enterprise and other sectors that use critical communications — gather to ensure that they have access to the very latest information and technology solutions.

Speaker sessions

Comms Connect 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 following partial list of topics gives you an idea of what to expect and reflects just how rapidly the critical communications field is changing:

• Using biometrics to keep emergency responders safe
• The use of long-range digital radio in rural and remote areas
• Maritime radio in NSW — the birth of a state-wide network
• Security challenges in narrowband SCADA networks
• Optimising LMR networks for enhanced capability and interoperability
• The role of two-way radios in big data and analytics
• Developments in LMR and PTT
• Putting mission-critical intelligence into the hands of decision-makers
• Public safety and critical infrastructure protection
• Powering intelligent transportation systems with next-generation remote energy solutions
• Building carrier-class FWB networks to support ITS applications
• GRN backhaul evolution — from PDH to IP/MPLS
• Building the IoT’s infrastructure: fog computing and network gateway intelligence

The full list of speakers and topics can be viewed on the Comms Connect website at sydney.comms-connect.com.au/conference-program.

Workshops

Comms Connect workshops are always popular. This year there will be four workshops, held after the lunch break on the first day of the event.

Workshop 1: Dispelling the myths of microwave radio, led by Trevor Manning, Managing Director, TMC Global. This workshop will cover new technologies, new spectrum ranges, avoiding weather issues, achieving ‘five nines’ reliability, and more.

Workshop 2: Fleet management, cradle to grave, utilising over-the-air programming, led by Andrew Smith, Engineering Solutions Manager, Tait Communications. This discussion will cover the migration from analog to digital using real-life examples, and will include design principles and a demonstration of fleet configuration and management tools.

Workshop 3: Public safety information management: challenges and opportunities, led by Lance Valcour, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police; Charles Emer, CIO, NSW State Emergency Service; and Matthew Smith, CIO, NSW Rural Fire Service. This important workshop will cover a diverse range of technologies, such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, alerting, digital mobile radio, location-based services, deployable broadband and advanced analytics.

Workshop 4: Building a radio network from the ground up, led by Chris Stevens, Communications Advisor, Surf Life Saving Australia. This non-vendor specific workshop is aimed squarely at local government, small NGOs, businesses and independent groups that are looking to build and deliver a small, two-way, LMR network.

Exhibitors

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.

Among the many exhibitors you’ll get to meet in Sydney will be: 4RF, Amtex, Anritsu, ARCIA, ATDI, ATCCF, Benelec, BFDX (Fujian Beifeng Telecom Technology) BelFone, Critical Comms, Emona Instruments, Friendcom, Gencom, GME, Icom, Innovatel, Keysight Technologies, Mastercom, Omnitronics, Polar Electronic Industries, RF Technology, Sepura, Silvertone, Spectrum Engineering, Tait Communications, Vertel, Wireless Tech, ZCG Scalar and Zetron Australasia. You can see the full list of exhibitors at sydney.comms-connect.com.au/whos-exhibiting.

If you haven’t already booked your company’s exhibition space, it might not be too late — phone the Comms Connect team on 02 9487 2700 or email Paul Davis for details.

Panel sessions

Comms Connect Sydney 2016 will feature two panel sessions that will be of great interest to everyone in the industry.

The first, at 9.30 am on the second day (Thursday 23 June), will be Next-Generation 000 — the road ahead. This important session will see a blue ribbon panel of Australasian experts outline the history, current state and desired future state of NG000. This session will be of keen interest to industry, government, academic and related delegates as all will be required to ensure the transition from 000 to NG000 is successful.

The second panel session will the final session of the whole event, at 3.30 pm on the Thursday. Entitled Industry and public safety: working together to improve community safety, this not-to-be-missed facilitated session will give public safety and industry officials a chance to engage in an open dialogue on a number of issues, such as capability gaps, ideas for potential joint research and opportunities to change the dialogue from traditional procurement models to faster and more agile ones such as problem-orientated procurement.

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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More Comms Connect events in 2016

WF Media (publisher of Critical Comms) and ARCIA have been holding a series of very successful, one-day ‘mini’ Comms Connect conferences in several capital cities. “These are stripped back, single-day conferences aimed at those who aren’t able to come to Sydney or Melbourne and who would like to have access to the educational side of what we do,” said Paul Davis, WF Media’s Events Director. “There’s a whole raft of content developed for each show, and by sharing this already generated material further afield, everybody wins.”

The next events will be in Brisbane on 27 July and Adelaide on 23 September. They’ll be followed, of course, by the main Comms Connect Melbourne conference and exhibition on 22–24 November.

Full details of all these events are available at comms-connect.com.au.

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What: Comms Connect Sydney

Conference: Wednesday 22 June (9.00 am–5.00 pm) and Thursday 23 June (9.00 am–4.00 pm)

Exhibition: Wednesday 22 June (9.00 am–5.00 pm) and Thursday 23 June (9.00 am–3.30 pm)

Where: Hall 5, Southee Complex, Sydney Showground, Olympic Park

Who: 450+ attendees, 30+ speakers and 25+ exhibitors

Web: sydney.comms-connect.com.au