The organisers of the Three Counties Defence & Security Expo 2018 (3CDSE) have announced 40 leading expert speakers from the fields of military, law enforcement and the defence and security industry WHO will be presenting at the region’s largest Expo for the defence industry. The event will be held at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern on 31st May 2018.
The 3CDSE Speaker Programme hosts a wealth of diverse, knowledgeable and experienced presenters, affording delegates the opportunity to hear from those who are at the forefront of innovation within the industry.
The Programme encompasses a Networking breakfast, Innovation Theatre and Business Development Theatre and includes individual speakers as well as panels of experts.
Brett Lovegrove, Chief Executive of the City Security and Resilience Networks (CSARN), Managing Director of Valentis Bridge Ltd and co-founder and director at Anquan and TriTectus Ltd, will present his perceptions of the current status of the British Armed Forces within the context of a global economy in his role as Keynote Speaker at the Networking Breakfast, which is open to all, and takes place prior to the main Expo opening.
The Keynote speaker for the Innovation Theatre will be Brigadier Robin Sergeant, Head of Future Force Development of the British Army, who will discuss the changing technological, vehicle and hardware needs of the MoD and how continual advances in requirements may be best met by industry.
Further speakers in the Innovation Theatre will include Dr Alex Tarter, head of Cyber Consulting, Thales whose presentation theme will be trust in the Cyber Age. Dr Tarter questions, from a technology perspective, whether we operate with same level of trust and, more importantly, should we? He said; ‘We [businesses] have good HR practices in place to protect on a human level who we employ and how they perform, but we’re starting to swap out people for technology, integrating more and more without necessarily realising that the same rules do not apply.”
He will also be talking about the specific new procurement requirement for the defence sector – DEFCON 658 – which relates to MoD data security throughout the supply chain.
Of 3CDSE, Dr. Tarter said; ‘I’m looking forward to catching up with a few old colleagues and meeting other people from outside the Greater London area. Sometimes at other shows you don’t get a lot of time to collaborate, so I’m really looking forward to 3CDSE – to hear from other companies about the innovative and practical things they’re doing in their respective fields.’
Other Innovation Theatre speakers include Richard Newbould of Vodafone, Dr Octavia Frota of the NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG) as well as Mivy James from BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, who will be looking at the Internet of Things (IoT).
Mivy commented; ‘There’s been quite a high-profile issue raised recently with military personnel wearing fitness tech, publicising their routes and bases being identified because of that. How do we avoid this sort of thing? I will be presenting a compelling story about data privacy, artificial intelligence and consumer wearable tech.’
Each speaker will present and discuss the latest technologies and ideas from within their sphere of industry. There will also be two panels of experts from the Defence & Security Industry and from Cyber Security Crime and Prevention.
The Business Development Theatre presentations will be interactive, allowing delegates to access commercial opportunities and information directly relevant to their own business needs.
Delegates will hear from businesses who have been successful in trading in international markets as well as experts from the ‘Doing Business with the Defence’ team, the Department of International Trade, UK Export Finance, UK Export Licensing, Defence Accelerator and the Defence Protection Partnership.
Utilising knowledge from the racetrack, Stuart Olden, Business Development Manager, will show how Williams F1 Advanced Engineering applied innovative techniques developed to advance F1 motoring to the future requirements of the defence industry.
The organisers have also announced that the event’s 145 exhibitor stands have sold out, proving the popularity and desire for such an Exhibition in the Three Counties region. The popularity of the unique event, which is organised by Harrison Clark Rickerbys, follows the success of the first Hereford Defence and Security Expo in 2017 which was also organised by the leading ‘Top 100’ law firm.
Richard Morgan, Partner, Head of Litigation and Head of the Defence & Security Sector, Harrison Clark Rickerbys, said: “The regional dynamic and still relatively intimate scale of 3CDSE offers business-to-business networking opportunities between contributors to the Defence and Security sector in the Three Counties area as well as with Prime contractors and the military. This means that unlike larger Expos, delegates have the opportunity to meet with decision makers.”
3CDSE will be run in partnership with The Manufacturers’ Organisation (EEF) and its dedicated defence sub-group, National Defence Industries (NDI).
Local business groups and government bodies, including the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, Worcestershire Business Central, Hereford Enterprise Zone/Skylon Park, Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and the West Midland Reserve Forces & Cadets Association have also partnered with Harrison Clark Rickerbys to support the event.
Gary Woodman, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, commented; “Worcestershire boasts some of the UK’s most innovative cyber businesses, and events like the Three Counties Defence and Security Expo go a long way to profile just how forward thinking our local companies are. I am excited to meet with these businesses at the event taking place on 31 May.”
