Network centric talk at BRIDEX

THE official 2009 Brunei International Defence Exhibition (BRIDEX) Conference will take place on August 11 the day before the opening ceremony of the BRIDEX 2009 Exhibition.

The conference will be organised by Jane's Information Group in association with Ministry of Defence (MinDef). The Oxford Business Group is the supporting sponsor for the conference.

Both the BRIDEX Conference and Exhibition will take place in the state-of-the-art purpose built Conference Hall located within the brand new purpose-built exhibition centre located not far from the Royal Brunei Polo & Riding Club, Jerudong.

BRIDEX 2009 which is scheduled to be held from August 12 to 15 will be organised by Royal Brunei Technical Services (RBTS) with the full support of the Ministry of Defence.

MinDef and Jane's are inviting interested individuals to participate at the BRIDEX 2009 Conference, the premier defence and security event in the region.

The one-day conference will consist of a series of keynote addresses, accompanied by panel discussions, on four key areas of relevance to defence forces and national security agencies in the region's fast-changing defence and security environment.

A total of 10 speakers that will be presenting their papers at the conference. Session One speakers are Soh Kong Pheng Chief Executive, Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), Singapore; Rear Admiral Chris A Snow, Flag Officer Sea Training, Royal Navy, United Kingdom; and Lieutenant General Johan Kihl, former Chief of Staff, Swedish Armed Forces, Sweden.

Soh Kong Pheng, Chief Executive, DSTA

Prior to assuming this position in January 2008, Soh was the Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) in DSTA, leading the project management of SAF's acquisition programmes. This is a role he held since April 2000, following the merger of Singapore Ministry of Defence's Defence Materiel Organisation, where he was Director, with the other technology agencies in the Ministry to form DSTA.

Soh's extensive experience in defence acquisition can be traced back to his military career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) spanning close to three decades where he held various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).

These included the appointments of Commanding Officer, Air Logistics Squadron and Deputy Head Air Logistics (Materials). From 1993 to 1997, he was the Head of Air Logistics, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1994.

Soh had joined the SAF in 1972 after completing the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Course and apprenticeship in Sydney (Australia) under the Colombo Plan Fellowship Award and obtained a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Aeronautical Engineering in 1985 thereafter from the University of Manchester (UK).

Soh is a member of the Workplace Safety and Health Council under the Singapore Ministry of Manpower, having served as a member of the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee earlier.

He sits on the boards of the Temasek Defence Systems Institute, Temasek Laboratories at the National University of Singapore and the Enterprise Challenge Panel, a committee under the Singapore's Public Service Division.

Rear Admiral Chris A Snow, Flag Officer Sea Training, Royal Navy, UK

Snow joined the Royal Navy as a Seaman (Warfare) Officer in 1976.

After selection for university, he graduated in 1980 with a degree in Archaeology from Durham University. He assumed his current post as Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) in February 2009.

Snow has held six command appointments at sea, including HM Prize Tiger Bay, the mine countermeasures vessel HMS Atherstone, the frigates HMS Iron Duke and HMS Coventry and the commando helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.

His most recent Command appointment was as the 2 Maritime Component Commander of STRIKFORNATO Maritime Forces based in Naples and USS Mount Whitney.

He is also an anti-submarine warfare specialist, and earned his submarine dolphins following a two-year appointment to HMS Tireless. His joint operational experience includes leadership of the multi-national operations team for Kabul (ISAF I) at the Permanent Joint HQ Northwood, for which he was awarded a CBE.

This joint experience was reinforced during combined and multinational operations in Norway and Sierra Leone as CO HMS Ocean, including a period as Commander Amphibious Task Force.

Snow's policy appointments include a period as Military Assistant to the Vice Chief of Defence Staff, and as the Assistant Director Navy Staff responsible for industrial and academic partnerships and NATO, EU, and international relations activity.

In the resources field he was responsible for co-ordinating the Fleet HQ budget during the transition to resource accounting and budgeting and the delivery of the Fleet operational programme. As Director Navy Resources and Plans (DNRP) in the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) he co-ordinated the navy resource programme and force structure. He has also led a number of change programmes, including the post-"Fleet First" HQ structure and the re-organisation of the MoD Resource and Programmes area.

Lieutenant General Johan Kihl, former Chief of Staff, Swedish Armed Forces, Sweden

Kihl has since 1996 until his retirement in May 2004, been responsible for the transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces. Kihl made it possible for the Swedish Armed Forces to be among the first in the world and the first in Europe to establish Network Enable Capability (NEC) into The Armed Forces. Kihl was deputy chairman in the Steering Committee for the Nordic Helicopter Programme 1998-2001. Kihl was the Swedish representative in the six nations agreement (France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Sweden) and responsible for the working group Harmonisation of Military Re-quirement 1998-2000. (ALA)

The Brunei Times