Joining Sessions at FIA Connect

Introduction – Gareth Rogers, Chief Executive, Farnborough International

Senior Industry Leaders Panel

This headline event will bring together senior international aerospace and defence leaders to discuss their perspectives on the outlook for industry.

Moderated by:

• Peggy Hollinger, International Business Editor, Financial Times

The UK India Business Council’s Aerospace & Defence Industry Group and ADS are organising a virtual panel discussion to discuss how to build an integrated UK-India partnership for India’s future aerospace & defence platforms.

This event will discuss and explore, in practical terms, how to create that alliance: including subjects like sharing technology, building innovation, opportunities, challenges, and models for genuine collaboration. The topic aligns well with a G2G strategic relationship recently enhanced by the April 2019 Defence Equipment Collaboration MoU between India and the UK.

A small, high-level panel, which will include two platform providers (BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce), UK and Indian systems providers (MBDA and Data Patterns), as well as senior representation from the UK and Indian Governments (DRDO). 

Speakers:

• Kishore Jayaraman, President South Asia, Rolls-Royce
• George Kyriakides, Director of International Industrial Cooperation, MBDA
• Nik Khanna, Managing Director, India, BAE Systems
• S Rangarajan, CEO of Data Patterns
• Ian Draper, Industrial Capacity Lead, DSO

airBaltic's CEO, Martin Gauss, in conversation with Flight Global's  Max Kingsley-Jones. 

airBaltic (AIR BALTIC CORPORATION) is one of the most punctual airlines in the world connecting the Baltic region with over 60 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS. airBaltic is a joint stock company that was established in 1995. Its primary shareholder is the Latvian state, which holds around 80% of the stock, while Lars Thuesen holds around 20% through his fully-owned Aircraft Leasing 1 SIA. airBaltic operates 22 Airbus A220-300 aircraft. airBaltic has received numerous international awards for excellence and innovative services. In 2017, the airline received the CAPA Regional Airline of the Year award, while in 2018 and 2019 airBaltic received the ATW Airline Industry Achievement Award as the Market Leader of the Year. In addition, in 2019 airBaltic received Sector Leadership Award by Airline Business.

For the aerospace and defense industry to grow, it needs a talent pool that can take innovation to the next level. Yet, one of the most massive generations in a century is marching toward retirement and taking their know-how with them. How do aerospace and defense companies prevent “brain drain,” and win the war for talent with other industries like tech and life sciences? Paul Feeko, EY’s Americas Aerospace and Defense Leader, discusses these challenges and poses ways to overcome them.

The steep decline in commercial air travel following the COVID-19 crisis has brought about a number of environmental benefits weighed against major financial impacts.

Maintaining environmental progress is likely to require policy change, this panel will discuss potential government plans to support recovery of the sector along with protecting valuable environmental improvements. The contribution of manufacturers and those in the supply chain to achieving greener skies - for example through eco-fuel and greater innovation in engine technologies – will also be discussed.

Additionally, the far-reaching financial implications of COVID-19 are to be addressed as industry looks to rebuild and regain financial and workforce stability.

PA Consulting will showcase the findings from the latest SAF report and lay out a scenario for the commercialisation of the SAF industry in the UK that is directly enabled by all members of the value chain. In this session, you will discover what the practical considerations are in the commercialisation of the SAF industry in the UK, what levers exist to enable the realisation of the SAF roadmap and what the current blockers are.

In this session you will:

• discover the practical impact of the recommendations laid out in the SAF roadmap. Will they have the impact required to accelerate the SAF adoption in the UK, as predicted in the Roadmap?
• identify what practical first steps each player in the value chain could take to facilitate the acceleration and adoption of SAF
• gain an understanding on the next steps required to move the industry forward

From space tourism to landing on Mars, most of us regard further space exploration as expensive and incredibly challenging. Since the sixties, man has raced to travel further but with so much to fix on Earth, why such determination to push boundaries and see more? Join us to learn how some of many of our most valuable technologies come as a result of  space travel, and learn about the way humanity is cooperating in a way that transcends politics and worldly concerns.

The DGP Skills Group is delighted to introduce the Defence Digital Skills Framework (DDSF) at Farnborough Connect. We are honoured that Nadhim Zahawi, Minister for Business and industry will formally launch the DDSF ‘portal’, which has been created to give access to  digital skills resources to upskill our current workforce. 

The DDSF curates materials from a wide range of sources, and is illuminated by case studies from DGP companies, which provide unique context and depth to the learner. The Skills Group embarked on this work following a survey of all of the CEOs/MDs of the participating  companies regarding the demand for digital skills in our sector and the responses highlighted 5 priority subjects. 

The launch event will include a round table discussion with industry and academic participants and will discuss the impact of digital technologies on our sector and the benefits of having a digitally competent and confident workforce.

Interview with Mr. John Mannarino, President & Founder of MANNARINO Systems & Software regarding industry’s continuing struggles to keep software development and certification costs under control and how his disruptive software product will support future aerospace systems. The discussion focuses on advances in the MANNARINO real-time operating system (M-RTOS) to enable aerospace & defense companies stretch their R&D dollars while ensuring future designs adhere to safety and certification regulations.

When will the airline industry recover and will it ever look like it once did?

This panel, made up of industry, government and regulators will address how to rebuild confidence and get passengers flying again, exploring clear and robust policy implementation, and plans by airports and airlines to ensure technology and revised hygiene practices are adopted.  

The panel will also debate how the next few years for industry could look; who will thrive and who may struggle to survive. 

Interview of Dr. William Conley, Chief Technology Officer from Mercury Systems regarding enabling commercial technology trends in microelectronics to support future autonomous systems.  The discussion focuses on advances in computing and artificial intelligence to enable trusted autonomy while balancing safety and security in future designs.

Around the world, industry and governments are conducting pilot studies and tests, rapidly maturing the potential for Elevated Mobility to transform the way we move goods and people locally and regionally. But what are the critical ingredients needed go from “pilot study” to “operational practice”? How to scale urban air mobility to realize the full economic and social potential of elevated mobility? And how long will it take?