Future on show at Comms Connect Sydney

Comms Connect Sydney is just days away. If you’re involved in any aspect of business- and mission-critical communications and wireless technology, it’s a must-not-miss event.

This year, the conference and exhibition will be held at a new venue, Rosehill Gardens near Parramatta. The modern facility is purpose-built for events such as Comms Connect Sydney, and organisers are confident delegates will find it to be a vast improvement over the previous venue at Olympic Park.

The two-day program is packed full of important and informative presentations, and registration is easy and affordable.

The first day will begin with an opening keynote address by Bill Schrier, senior advisor to FirstNet in the United States. He will provide an overview of how FirstNet will enable smarter public safety services through the use of new technologies.

Schrier’s presentation will be followed by a plenary address by Luke Brown, Assistant Secretary with Emergency Management Australia, who will provide the audience with a much-awaited update on the status of Australia’s forthcoming public safety mobile broadband system. This one is not to be missed.

The second day’s plenary address will be given by Giles Tanner, General Manager of the ACMA’s Communications Infrastructure Division. He will speak about the challenges facing spectrum regulators in the new technology environment.

Over the course of the two days, speaker presentations will be broken into three streams. The public safety stream presentations will include:

• Supporting day-to-day mission-critical operations of public safety networks (Sohan Domingo, Nokia)
• Designing reliable fixed wireless networks for public safety and IoT applications (Eddie Stephanou, Cambium Networks)
• Using PTT to extend mission-critical LMR networks (Station Officer Graham Tait, Fire & Rescue NSW)
• Victorian marine boating public safety infrastructure (Marcus Grinblat ESM, Victoria State Council)
• Next-generation networks for mission-critical services case study (Nilesh Joshi, CommTel Network Solutions)
• Mobile broadband applications: innovations for business- and mission-critical users (James Reed, Titan ICT Consultants)
   

The technology stream will include the following presentations:

• Li-Fi: mobility for the 2020s (Lawrence McKenna, Wood & Grieve Engineers)
• What’s it all about — 5G? (Roger Kane, Vicom)
• 5G roadmap: pipe dream to reality (Dale Stacey, SAT Pty)
• A ‘smart world’ — so what? (William Heapy, Axicom)
• LPWAB connectivity options as the backbone for Industrial IoT (Loic Barancourt, Thinxtra)
• Rethinking two-way radio intrinsic safety (Paul Barnes, Fire & Rescue NSW)
• Enhancing safe work at heights near radio sites (Tony Paul, PicoNet Consulting)
   

And in the industry stream, the topics and speakers will be:

• Evolution from narrowband to mobile broadband (Anton Abrahams, ATCCF)
• Utility sector case study (Glen Norris, Orion Network, and Steven Oliver, Jemena)
• Digital wireless evolution in train communications (Doug Bowden, ATCCF/Sepura)
• The value of a strong industry association (Hamish Duff, ARCIA)
• Customer-driven outcomes on a multifunction platform (John Graham, Tait Communications)
   

There will also be four workshops held on the first day of the conference, as follows:

• Radio spectrum management — what’s trending in 2018
• Control rooms — trends and developments
• The Internet of Things for public safety
• Critical messaging in the modern world
   

The second day will conclude with a panel session on the topic of ‘Public safety mobile broadband: the way forward for critical communications in Australia’. The panel — to be led by Bill Schrier (FirstNet) and Ian Miller (ARCIA) — will canvass possible outcomes for Australia’s PSMB ecosystem, using the example of other countries’ experiences as a guide.

Exhibition

The exhibition will be a great opportunity to meet and greet with multiple suppliers/manufacturers in the one place, 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 25 companies, large and small, are booked in as exhibitors. A FREE expo pass option is available if you’d like to pop in and out.

Dinner and networking

There will be two special opportunities for networking and socialising. First will be the networking drinks, from 5–6 pm on the first day. And this will be followed by the ARCIA Industry Dinner and Networking Event, to be held from 6 pm that same day at Rydges Parramatta, just across the road 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: 14 June (8.50 am–5.00 pm), 15 June (9.00 am–3.30 pm)

Exhibition: 14 June (9.00 am–5.00 pm), 15 June (9.00 am–3.30 pm)

Where: Rosehill Gardens, Rosehill

Who: More than 500 delegates and 25-plus exhibitors

Web: sydney.comms-connect.com.au

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