International Security Expo has unveiled its CPD-certified thought leadership programme ahead of its return to Olympia, London from 27-28 September.

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 come together to discuss mitigation strategies, best practices and high-level policy. This year’s programme has been meticulously curated with guidance from the event’s 70-person strong expert Advisory Council, comprising the most credible Government, industry and leading academic stakeholders, to ensure 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: Global Counter Terror & Serious and Organised Crime Summit, International Security Conference and International Risk and Resilience Conference.

Strategic insights from influential industry leaders

The Global Counter Terror & Serious and Organised Crime Summit, 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. With a strong focus on the upcoming Protect Duty legislation, a transformative piece of legislation set to forever change how the UK protect its citizens in public spaces.

Attendees will be able to hear from the key drivers of the landmark legislation, including the tireless campaigner, Figen Murray, whose son Martyn was tragically killed at the Manchester arena terror attacks in 2017; Shaun Hipgrave, Director of Protect and Prepare, Homeland Security Group (HSG), UK Government Home Office; and a senior member of the Publicly Accessible Locations (PALs) team, also part of the HSG.

Other key topics set to be discussed include international counter terror priorities. Speakers include Lina Kolesnikova, Security Expert, ICPEM, who will discuss key trends and developments following terror attacks in the EU. Fellow speakers include a Senior Agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who will discuss the US’ role overseas and a Senior Counter Terror Police Officer who will offer a UK perspective.  

The popular ‘Realities of Terror’ thread also returns this year, where attendees will hear from those who have had to live with the consequences of terrorism. This includes Ann Travers, Advocacy Support Worker, South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), 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 Adviser. 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 Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Security best practice, from a plethora of perspectives

Elsewhere on the show floor, International Security Conference, sponsored by Patriot One and Rekor, will see a host of leading experts come together to enable attendees to understand security best practice as applied to a range of different scenarios.

On the first day, talks will focus on Publicly Accessible Locations (PALs), set to be a major focus for the industry throughout 2022/23 with the imminent Protect Duty legislation. Speakers will address the practical issues surrounding its implementation, wider planning and insights into the application of current recommendations in venues such as iconic buildings and concert halls. This includes a Senior Officer from the National Counter Terrorism Security Office; Nick Aldworth, Founder and Director, Risk to Resolution Limited, who together with Figen Murray authored the original proposal for the UK Protect Duty (Martyn’s Law).

Fellow speakers include Christian Schneider, Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) Advisor, IniBSP / Germany, HVM Advisors, who founded the non-profit expert forum following the vehicle ram attacks of Nice and Berlin to provide relevant expert guidance to decision-makers in Germany.  Meanwhile, Lina Kolesnikova, Security Expert, Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (ICPEM) will examine the implications of heavy-handed police tactics at the recent State de France incident.

New Advisory Committee member Satia Rai, Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, International Professional Security Association (IPSA), will join a panel discussion with five fellow industry experts to debate the importance of diversity and social representation for the provision of a secure environment. This includes representatives from Security Commonwealth (SyCOM), Optimal Risk Group, Corps Security UK Ltd, The Security Institute and ABM UK.

Day two will play host to a variety of thought-provoking panel discussions exploring the high-level challenges, threats and trends facing the security industry, including future hubs, cybersecurity, drones, piracy and organised crime. Representing a wide range of sectors from Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) to aviation and transport, speakers will address how the pandemic has altered the nature of security.

Highlights include Debbie Rafferty, Counter Terrorism Independent Consultant and Academic, who will 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 – Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), who will discuss why innovation should be at the forefront of national security. Gary Martin, Aviation Security Training Manager, G4S, will also join a panel of fellow experts to discuss port and airport security.

Bouncing back in the face of adversity

At the new International Risk and Resilience Conference, in partnership with Resilience First, experts will focus on how we can better manage and bounce back from emerging global crises. The top-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 utilised and what lessons can be taken from the various international crises such as the pandemic and the climate crisis, from a policy perspective, alongside the practical implementation of resilience solutions.

Speakers on day one include Mathilda Jansson, Consultant – Operational Resilience, 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, Global Security and Disaster Management Ltd, will discuss compliance – an often-overlooked component of resilience. She’ll explain how efficient compliance, alongside risk management and due diligence, is crucial to building resilience.

Meanwhile, Mark Harris, Crisis Management Lead with the CrisisFit programme at Sheena Thomson Consulting, will offer some fascinating perspectives on the role of media engagement in a crisis, touching on how best to approach it, while suggesting a checklist to ensure robust, responsible and resilient response measures are put in place.

Day two will include a talk from Jennifer Cole, Lecturer, Royal Holloway University of London, on Critical Health Geopolitics, who will argue how geopolitical biases prevented Europe from heeding early warnings from China on the severity of Covid-19. She’ll also explore the political framing of lockdowns as extreme freedom violations rather than an appropriate threat response.

Lianna Roast, Resilience Knowledge Coordinator – Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College, will set out the inextricable link between learning and resilience, examining the challenges of identifying and implementing lessons, while exploring opportunities for creating more resilient learning programmes. Meanwhile, Steven Shepherd, OC 591SU and Head of Defensive Cyber Operations, Royal Air Force, will give a talk on the importance of planning for cyber resilience.

Rachael Shattock, Event Director, International Security Expo, added: “With an increasingly long and varied list of security threats, we’ve gone to extra lengths this year to ensure our conference programme reflects the real priorities of the security industry. A special thanks go out to the Advisory Council who have done a stellar job working with our conference team to craft this year’s programme. We have no doubt that attendees will leave the sessions feeling enriched and armed with the knowledge that will help them better understand the industry while adding value to their business operations.”

For more information, visit: www.internationalsecurityexpo.com