International Security Expo 2022 conference programme unveiled

The highly popular, free-of-charge educational programme is sure to pull in the crowds once again as it delivers the latest insights and analysis from world-leading security, law enforcement and risk and resilience experts who will join forces to discuss mitigation strategies, Best Practice and high-level policy.

This year’s programme has been meticulously curated with guidance from the event’s expert Advisory Council, which comprises 68 of the most credible Government, industry and leading academic stakeholders to ensure that it accurately reflects the industry’s ever-changing threats, challenges and debates.

This year, security professionals can learn from world-renowned speakers who will deliver thought-provoking talks across three theatres: the Global Counter Terror and Serious and Organised Crime Summit, the International Security Conference and the International Risk and Resilience Conference.

Strategic insights

The Global Counter Terror and Serious and Organised Crime Summit, which is sponsored by SKOPENOW, is renowned for delivering strategic insights and policy updates from heads of Government departments and agencies, alongside keynote sessions presented by those leading the way in combating terrorism and serious and organised crime.

There’s going to be a strong focus on the upcoming Protect Duty, a transformative piece of legislation set to forever change how the UK safeguards its citizens in public spaces. Attendees will be able to hear from the key drivers of the landmark legislation, among them tireless campaigner Figen Murray OBE, whose son Martyn Hett was tragically killed as a result of the Manchester Arena terror attack in 2017, and Shaun Hipgrave (director of Protect and Prepare within the Homeland Security Group at the Home Office.

Other key topics set to be discussed include international counter-terrorism priorities. Speakers include Lina Kolesnikova (security expert at the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management), who will discuss key trends and developments following terror attacks in the European Union. Fellow speakers include a senior agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who’ll discuss the US’ role overseas and a senior Counter Terrorism Policing officer offering a UK perspective.

The popular ‘Realities of Terror’ thread also returns this year. Attendees will hear from those who have had to live with the consequences of terrorism. They includes Ann Travers, advocacy support worker for the South East Fermanagh Foundation and a prominent victims’ campaigner whose sister Mary was killed by the IRA. Travers is credited with successfully campaigning to ban anyone convicted of a serious criminal offence from holding the position of a special advisor. She will be joined at the Summit by Basheer Ahmad Omarzai, a refugee from Kabul who worked as a senior interpreter with the British Forces in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

Security Best Practice

Sponsored by PatriotOne Technologies and REKOR, the International Security Conference sees a host of leading experts delivering an understanding of security Best Practice as it’s applied to a range of different scenarios.

On Day One of conference, talks will focus on publicly accessible locations, which are set to be a major focus for the industry throughout 2022 and 2023 given the aforementioned Protect Duty legislation. Speakers will address the practical issues surrounding its implementation and wider planning and deliver insights on the application of current recommendations in venues such as iconic buildings and concert halls.

Presenters include Nick Aldworth (the founder and director of Risk to Resolution Limited who, together with Figen Murray, authored the original proposal for Martyn’s Law).

Another speaker is Christian Schneider, the hostile vehicle mitigation specialist who founded a non-profit expert forum following the vehicle attacks in Nice and Berlin in order to provide relevant expert guidance for decision-makers in Germany.

New Advisory Council member Satia Rai (director of equality, diversity and inclusion at the International Professional Security Association), is all set to join a panel discussion with five fellow industry experts in order to debate the importance of diversity and social representation for the provision of a secure environment. Representatives from The Security Commonwealth, the Optimal Risk Group, Corps Security, The Security Institute and ABM UK will all be in attendance and offering their take on the subject.

Day Two plays host to a variety of thought-provoking panel discussions exploring the high-level challenges, threats and trends facing the security industry, among them cyber security, drones, piracy and organised crime.

Representing a wide range of sectors from Critical National Infrastructure through to aviation and transport, speakers will address how the pandemic has altered the nature of security. Highlights include Debbie Rafferty (an academic and independent consultant on counter-terrorism) who’ll discuss how energy companies manage and mitigate the security risks of offshore oil and gas installations, and Anita Friend (head of the Defence and Security Accelerator) focusing on why innovation should be at the forefront of national security.

Gary Martin, aviation security training manager at G4S, is going to join a panel of fellow experts to discuss the subject of port and airport security.

Confronting global crises

At the new International Risk and Resilience Conference, which is being run in partnership with Resilience First, experts will be focusing on how we can better manage and bounce back from emerging global crises.

The high-level content programme will aim to initiate discussions around key topics such as how Government resilience planning is performed, how the National Risk Register is best used and what lessons can be taken from various international crises including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speakers on Day One include Mathilda Jansson (consultant on operational resilience for 4C Strategies) who will discuss the role of the ecosystem in strengthening operations resilience and the importance of sector-wide approaches to building resilience.

Katja Samuel (CEO at Global Security and Disaster Management) is going to look at compliance and explain how efficient compliance, alongside risk management and due diligence, is crucial to building resilience.

Meanwhile, Mark Harris (crisis management lead for the CrisisFit Programme at Sheena Thomson Consulting) offers some fascinating perspectives on the role of media engagement in a crisis, touching on how best to approach it, while in parallel suggesting a checklist to ensure robust, responsible and resilient measures are put in place.

Day Two includes a talk from Jennifer Cole (lecturer at the University of London) on critical health geopolitics. Cole will argue how geopolitical biases prevented Europe from heeding early warnings emanating from China on the severity of COVID-19. In addition, Cole is going to explore the political framing of lockdowns as extreme freedom violations rather than an appropriate threat response.

Lianna Roast (resilience knowledge co-ordinator for the Cabinet Office’s Emergency Planning College) is focused on setting out the inextricable link between learning and resilience, examining the challenges of identifying and implementing lessons, while also exploring opportunities for creating more resilient learning programmes.

Steven Shepherd (OC 591SU and head of defensive cyber operations at the Royal Air Force) is talking about the importance of planning for cyber resilience.

Reflecting priorities

Rachael Shattock, event director for the International Security Expo, explained: “With an increasingly long and varied list of security threats, we’ve gone the extra mile this year to ensure that our conference programme reflects the real priorities of the security industry. Special thanks goes out to the Advisory Council members who’ve done a tremendous job working with our conference team to craft this year’s programme.”

Shattock concluded: “We have absolutely no doubt that attendees will leave the conference sessions feeling enriched and armed with the knowledge that helps them to add value when it comes to business operations.”

*Further information about the International Security Expo 2022 – along with details of how to register your attendance – is available online at www.internationalsecurityexpo.com