RFUANZ conference coming up this month

New Zealand’s annual radio industry conference is set for 15-16 May, with an impressive line-up of speakers and exhibitors.

Organised by the Radio Frequency Users Association of New Zealand, the event will be held at Te Papa, Wellington, and will comprise two days of speaker sessions and panel discussions, plus a wide-ranging industry exhibition area.

A full first day of speaker sessions will see a range of themes covered by many industry leaders:

• An update from the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
• Rapid product development - Scott Heywood, Hytera Communications
• How radio communications supports St John’s operation - Tony Howard and Colin Ballantyne, St John
• The advent of a new era of Smart Radios - Bevan Clarke, Motorola Solutions
• Public Safety Radio Frequency Management Group: Future developments - Bruce Emirali, PSRFMG
• The path to choosing mission critical emergency management communications - Justin Lewis (Christchurch City Council) and Andrew Howe (Canterbury Emergency Management Group)

Day one will conclude with networking drinks, followed by the gala dinner. The busy second day will see two parallel streams of presentations:

• Convergence and connectivity - Dave Hicks, Logic Wireless
• “Analogue to IP” convergence and migration - Colin Bresnahan and Grant Fernando, Icom Australia
• There’s more to digital radio, than just digital radios - Jamie Baddeley, TeamTalk Limited
• Effectively managing the migration from legacy radio communications networks to broadband ethernet and IP - Gunnar Nilsen, Ceragon Networks
• Band III: An opportunity for high capacity SCADA and Smart Grid applications - Owen Borlase, 4RF
• Increasing productivity with digital radio technology - Gary Ertel, Data Over Radio
• Diagnosing communication problems - Radio Spectrum Management
• Is there still room for linking narrowband PMR sites in the digital world? - Paul Daigneault, MiMOMax Wireless
• A smarter grid: digital radio-based distribution automation - Zane Murray, Tait Communications
• The construction, maintenance and ongoing development of the Mount Campbell radio facility - Lloyd Wensley, Mount Campbell Communications
• Service enablement and growth using complementary non-3GPP fixed wireless broadband access as an alternative to fixed and mobile LTE - Roy Wittert, Cambium Networks
• America’s Cup project - Laurie Colvin, Colvins Ltd

The conference sessions will conclude with a discussion panel on the theme of challenges for mobile radio, featuring input from Simon Cole (Motorola Solutions), Steve Hooper (Hytera/Tait), Colin Bresnahan (Icom Australia) and Ian Brown (Ian Brown Consulting).

Sponsors of the conference include Hytera, RFI, Panorama Antennas, Tait, GME, Motorola Solutions, Icom, Vertex Standard, Cambium Networks, Pacific Aerials, Comms Connect and Critical Comms magazine.

Organisers are also calling for nominations for the annual industry awards. You can make your nominations here