Comms Connect Sydney wrap-up report

Hundreds of industry professionals gathered for two days of top-level presentations and workshops, and to visit the busy expo hall.

The third annual Comms Connect Sydney was held in late June, at Olympic Park in Sydney’s west. Attendance was up significantly on last year, the exhibition hall was buzzing and a full program of speakers and workshops kept delegates very busy. From the author’s perspective, the event had a very good vibe, with plenty of anecdotal evidence from exhibitors of lots of business done and important connections made. Many attendees commented favourably on the slightly different mix of visitors in Sydney compared to Melbourne, including lots of representatives of the various emergency services organisations.

The opening keynote address was given by Phillip King, Acting Managing Director of the NSW Telco Authority, who gave the audience an update on activities, including developments with the Critical Communications Enhancement Program.

King explained that, in line with the NSW Government Operational Communications Strategy, the Authority is implementing reform in collaboration with public sector agencies and industry partners. He told the audience that, while recognising the continuing importance of radiocommunications and the ongoing program to develop an integrated network for those agencies, the Authority is also working to ensure it will have access to the services it needs into the future. This involves a program of work that includes building a foundation for public safety mobile broadband, developing a shared platform for mobility as well as considering the needs of front-line staff in regional areas.

King also discussed some of the drivers and challenges for the Authority in balancing service delivery and reform, and the impacts on and opportunities for agencies and industry participation in delivering the outcomes required for the sector.

The second keynote was given by Alexander MacQuarrie (Lecturer, Paramedic Program, School of Biomedical Science, Charles Sturt University) and Ben Hinton (Health and Fitness Officer, NSW Police Force), who spoke about the rise of biometrics in keeping emergency responders safe, and the concomitant need to get that data from point to point.

After that, it was straight into a full program of presentations (two streams) and workshops (three streams) on a wide range of topics: from smart cities and intelligent transport systems; from big data and analytics to disruptive technologies; from LMR to microwave, TETRA to marine, SCADA to IoT; and from public safety to cybersecurity and disaster response.

Lots of big names were in attendance to give presentations or take part in the workshops: Krisztian Som (NEC Australia), Andrew Cribb (Marine Rescue NSW), Martin Chappell (Motorola Solutions), Charles Emer (NSW State Emergency Service), Matthew Smith (NSW Rural Fire Service), Chris Robson (NSW Police), Mark Loney (ACMA), Gregory Wild (Fire & Rescue NSW), Alex Stefan (Telstra), Bidar Homsey and Jan Thompson (Ericsson), Ross Spearman (Tait Communications), Greg Gale (Microsoft Australia), John Yaldwyn (4RF) and Caroline Milligan (Crest Advisory), to name only about half of them.

The full program is still available on the event website (sydney.comms-connect.com.au), and by the time you receive this copy of the magazine, most of the presentations should be available for download, in case you missed them or want to see them again.

Milligan, for instance — whose first Comms Connect presentation was in Wellington earlier this year — once more held the audience captive with her insights into the use of social media to gather and disseminate information during times of crisis.

Gregory Wild, Alex Stefan and Geoff Spring (Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne) led an interesting discussion on Next Generation Triple Zero, presenting a very positive picture of efforts being undertaken to address the need for enhancements such as better location services for emergency management authorities. (Incidentally, during her presentation, Milligan quoted figures from the US that suggest more than 75% of people expect first responders to arrive within three hours of receiving a call for help via social media channels, even if the relevant emergency services do not accept calls via such channels.)

The exhibition hall was packed with display stands, including many for companies that were represented for the first time at Comms Connect. I tried to speak with as many exhibitors as I could, all of whom told me that they were very happy indeed with the number and calibre of expo visitors. The first day in particular was very busy, but the second day did not disappoint. Numbers were up on last year, demonstrating that the Sydney event just keeps getting better every year.

Don’t miss Melbourne

One-day Comms Connect events will be held in Brisbane in late July, and in Adelaide in September, both of them in conjunction with the annual ARCIA industry days and networking dinners (see comms-connnect.com.au and arcia.org.au for details).

Then, the major event of the year, Comms Connect Melbourne, will follow in November. To be held in the usual location (the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre) from 22 to 24 November, it promises once again to be the highlight of the industry calendar. As this issue was going to press, the call for papers deadline had just passed, so keep an eye on the event’s website (melbourne.comms-connect.com.au) for the full three-day program, due out in a couple of months. And don’t forget to register early to take advantage of the early-bird rates.

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Time warp networking

Thousands of years ago, when your Critical Comms editor was young, I was forced to undertake a week of work experience during high school. Being a technically minded kid in a country town, initially I despaired of finding something that would suit my interests. But through a lucky coincidence, I ended up spending a fabulous week in the workshop of the local Forestry Commission radio techs, Paul Boekenstein and John Batchelor. (The coincidence was that the workshop was located directly across the road from the school.) So enjoyable was the experience that I went back and did it again the following year.

But the coincidences don’t stop there. Who should I bump into at Comms Connect Sydney, more than 30 years later, but John Batchelor, who’s still going strong in the same role. (Paul has now retired.) Pictured are my good self, flanked by John (on my right) and his colleague, Mark Shenstone.

So there you have it — it always pays to attend Comms Connect, because you never know who you might meet! It also pays to give a work experience kid a go, for you never know where it might take them.