RUSI C4ISR Conference 2024: British Sovereign Capabilities

Introduction by Noah Sylvia, C4ISR and Emerging Tech Analyst, RUSI

Keynote Speaker: Lieutenant General Tom Copinger-Symes CBE, Deputy Commander, Strategic Command

The modern battlefield requires operating in an electromagnetic spectrum that is more congested and contested than ever before. Drawing particularly from the rapid pace of software-defined warfare observed in Ukraine and ongoing British communications and electronic warfare programmes, panellists will discuss how the UK should prioritise its limited resources to succeed in this environment.

• Chair: Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow for Land Power, RUSI
• Dr Thomas Withington, Independent Defence Analyst, Journalist and Historian
• Jon Spencer, Chief Scientist C4 Systems, DSTL

Data collection, processing and dissemination is seen as the lifeblood of successful military training and operations, especially due to the increasing use of machine learning systems. This panel will elucidate many of the key challenges facing the MOD’s data frameworks and infrastructure, with a particular emphasis on the operations and opportunities of Defence Digital.

• Chair: Dr Simona Soare, Senior Lecturer, University of Lancaster
• Caroline Bellamy, Chief Data Officer, Ministry of Defence
• Dr Zena Wood, Director, Defence Data Research Centre 

Key to any discussion of sovereignty is understanding how Britain’s military partners with key allies, namely NATO forces. How should the UK envision its military’s C4ISR capabilities within NATO, while maintaining connectivity across its forces and with allies?

• Chair: Dr Sidharth Kaushal, Senior Research Fellow for Sea Power, RUSI
• Robert Merryweather, Group Technology Director, BAE Systems
• Rear Admiral Nicholas Wheeler, Director, NATO Digital Staff

Keynote speaker: Charles Forte, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Defence

This panel will explore the Ministry of Defence’s organisational and procurement processes relevant to its C4ISR capabilities. They will discuss how such processes enable or inhibit the UK’s ability to generate and sustain such capabilities at scale, along with necessary future directions.

• Chair: Matthew Savill, Director of Military Sciences, RUSI
• Mivy James, Chief Technology Officer, Defence Digital
• Rear Admiral Paul Stroude, Director Capability, UK Strategic Command
• Air Commodore (Ret’d) Andrew Curtis OBE, Independent Researcher

Refreshments will be available for conference delegates.

This forward-looking panel consider the evolving relationship between the British military and technology, highlighting the key tensions between current and ‘future’ technology, the feasibility of technology displacing mass, and the combining of cheap and exquisite technologies.

• Chair: Dr Sophy Antrobus, Research Fellow, Freeman Air and Space Institute
• Brigadier (Ret'd) John Ridge CBE, Director of Defence Innovation
• Major General Mark Totten, Director Naval Staff, Royal Navy
• Mykhailo Lopatin, Founder, Rapid Capability Group