Chris Rampton - Head of Security Innovation & Demonstration Centre, Home Office

Simon Rice - Group Manager - Technology, Information Commissioner's Office

Colin Smithers - CEO, Redtail Telematics

Colin completed BSc and PhD studies in wireless communications at the University of Surrey, Guildford from 1977-85. During this time he was became involved in its nascent microsatellite organisation SSTL, building flight modules for the first two satellites and being its first groundstation manager. The second satellite was launched in 1983 was heard working as recently as 2012. His PhD studies in Ultra Linear Power Amplifiers were sponsored by Philips and resulted in a patent.

He joined PA Technology in 1985 working on the design of various communications projects such as CT2 digital cordless telephone, PMR handsets (viz police walkie-talkies), a microwave oven and a novel underwater communications system for training Olympic swimmers.

In 1989 Colin co-founded and is Chairman of Plextek, one of the largest independent electronics design consultancies in Europe. This has subsequently been demerged to create four additional operating companies: Telensa street light metering and management; PRFI – boutique microwave chip designers; Blighter surveillance Systems – electronic scanning radar as used by Gatwick for drone detection; and Redtail Telematics – Telematics Service Provider for Stolen Vehicle Recovery to TRACKER Network and LoJack/CalAmp, and provision of insuretech to Admiral, ingenie, Direct Line, Acorn and to automotive OEMs such as JLR and others.

Colin was a Non-Executive Director of Amino Technologies from 2002 until 2016, assisting its growth from a small PE company through flotation to its present successful position on AIM.

Colin is an amateur concert pianist and flies gliders in national level competitions.

Catherine Taylor - Senior Associate, CMS

Zahid Ghadialy - Principal Analyst & Consultant, 3G4G

Zahid is a technologist with a deep understanding of architecting world-class mobile products and solutions. With over 20 years of experience in the telecom industry in various roles, he has been an evangelist for mobile and wireless technologies. Over the years he has accumulated a vast following on his blogs and social networks with simple explainer posts and videos.

His 3G4G blogs are widely read where he looks at different aspects of mobile technology and especially 5G and 6G nowadays, including the architecture, deployments, use cases, applications, etc. His YouTube channel is also very popular where he explains many new features expected as part of 5G in the future. While his style and content is unique, he also references many industry publications and provides slides that are very useful to view online.

He is also very active on Twitter under his @3G4GUK brand helping disseminate the benefits of 5G and why 5G will be needed in the long run. He covers a very wide portfolio of 5G related information that is hard to find otherwise.

Until recently, Zahid was a Senior Director looking at Technology & Innovation Strategy in Parallel Wireless. As a brand ambassador, he represented the company in various Open RAN discussions and also created tutorials on Open RAN and O-RAN which are being used as reference for new starters on the topic.

Richard Jacklin - Business Development - Commercial Lead, Plextek

Richard is the Commercial Lead for Plextek Services, helping customers design and produce highly innovative electronic, radar and radio communications enabled solutions. His career, now over 30 years, has included sales management, product management and engineering leadership in companies including Ericsson, Samsung, UL, Keysight, PPM and NI. He has presented and contributed to many forums including Cambridge Wireless, GSMA working groups, and Satellite Innovation Group. Richard graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a degree in Electronic Engineering, he was also awarded Chartered Engineer status and Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Bob Oates - Associate Director, Cambridge Consultants

Bob Oates is a specialist in the interaction between safety and security for operational technology, critical infrastructure, and IoT devices. He works within the Engineering Assurance Team at Cambridge Consultants, ensuring that intelligent, AI-enabled systems are safe and secure. In addition to his academic background, Bob has over a decade of industrial experience working in the critical national infrastructure, defence, aerospace, nuclear, and maritime domains, including acting as the head of security for the development of the world’s first commercial remotely operated ship. He holds an Honorary Professorship in Safety and Security at De Montfort University.

Yiru Zhong - None

Yiru is an M2M/IoT market veteran with an industry research background and practical deployment experience. She understands the complexity of new service launches and the investigative nature of enterprise adoption trends. In her analyst past, she has launched two successful M2M/IoT research programmes, changed leadership minds on focussing on security, and managed an IoT platform validation programme. Her current role utilises her industry and IoT technology knowledge to accelerate enterprise adoption. She represents Soracom in the UK to lead conversations with start-ups, SMBs and enterprises on how to use IoT for their business. She is passionate about resolving commercial practicalities of IoT deployment and mostly building a positive conversation around IoT security.