BRIDEX Conference proceeds smoothly

FINAL preparations to ensure the successful staging of the Brunei International Defence Exhibition and Conference (BRIDEX 2009) have gone as planned, according to the organisers of the event yesterday. The organisers said that BRIDEX 2009 Conference is ready to welcome senior government, military and security officials, academics and leading speakers, and defence industry experts from around the world, who are coming to exchange ideas, experiences and information on key issues facing the security forces and homeland agencies across the region and further afield, such as shaping the armed forces and government agencies to meet the challenges of non-traditional security threats as well as developing strategic business networking and future collaborations. The one-day conference will be held today, a day before the official opening of the defence exhibition.

The conference will also touch on key areas of relevance to defence forces and security agencies in today's fast changing defence environment such as Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I), homeland security, border surveillance and protection, supporting deployed forces for peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

"The response has been very encouraging," said the organisers. The organisers are allocating 350 seats for the Conference in the new hall. Conference participants comprise official delegations from overseas; senior officials from government agencies and embassies, exhibitors, private sectors, and uniformed and non-uniformed security bodies and members of the National Disaster Management Centre.

The conference is co-organised by Jane's Information Group and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, in association with the Ministry of Defence. The Oxford Business Group is the supporting sponsor for the event. BRIDEX 2009 is organised by Royal Brunei Technical Services, a strategic partner of the Ministry of Defence. "All preparations to the staging of the BRIDEX 2009 Conference have gone smoothly," added the organisers.

The Conference is being held at the new exhibition and conference centre which is located not far from the Royal Brunei Polo & Riding Club in Jerudong.

The one-day conference will now feature 12 speakers, who are experts in their fields, presenting their papers in three sessions. The organisers said that the one-day conference will examine the full spectrum of emerging threats as identified by individually invited international experts from

government, industry, the military, police and academia.

General Ehsan Ul Haq, who retired as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Armed Forces, will present the keynote address, while Session One speakers with its theme "C4ISTAR and the Evolution of Network Centric Capabilities" will include Soh Kong Pheng, Chief Executive, Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), Singapore, presenting "Trends and Drivers of Network Centric Technologies, Operations and Capabilities", Rear Admiral Chris A Snow, Flag Officer Sea Training, Royal Navy, United Kingdom, with "Network Centric Operations: The Challenges of Organisational Change"; and Lieutenant General Johan Kihl, former Chief of Staff, Swedish Armed Forces, Sweden, with "State Approaches to Network Centric Operations: The Swedish experience".

Session Two, with its theme "Homeland Security and Border Protection: Trends, Challenges and Technologies", will present "Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Return of Jemaah Islamiyah" by Inspector

General (Police) Dr Ito Sumardi, Expert Chief Advisor to Indonesian National Police Chief; "Utilising Network Enable Capability to meet Homeland Security Challenges" by Nick Gibbons, Deputy Director, National Security Secretariat, Cabinet Office, UK; "Port and Maritime Security: Challenges and Approaches" by Giles Noakes, Chief Maritime Security Officer, BIMCO, Denmark; and "Technological solutions for homeland security and border protection" by Warren Prentice, Business Development Manager, Defence & Public, Safety, APAC Microsoft, Singapore.

The last session, themed "Application of C4I to Peacekeeping, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations" will hear "Application of C4I in Integrated Multinational Missions" by Sudhir Mahara, Director, International Training Programmes, BlueForce LLC; "Civil Military Co-ordination in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations" by Michael Marx, Senior Civil-Military Coordination Advisor, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN/OCHA), USA; and "Case Studies on Interoperability in Peacekeeping Missions" by General Boonsrang Niumpradit, former Supreme Commander, Royal Thai Armed Forces. Professor Dr Sarlito Wirawan Sarwono, Head of Graduate Programme on Police Science, University of Indonesia, will also present a Lunch Talk on "How Militants Work: The Psychology of Terrorism" during the conference.

Meanwhile, at the exhibition halls, contractors were busy doing the final touches to the exhibition booths. A range of state-of-the-art equipments were seen being taken into the exhibition halls. Most of the exhibitors from overseas have already arrived in Brunei and were also seen working hard in setting up the display materials in their respective booths.

The Brunei Times