Jon is the Chief C4I Scientist at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). Jon leads the planning and technical delivery of C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Compute and Information) research spanning all military domains from subsea to space, enabling information driven operations in the most challenging environments.
Jon oversees activity across a number of programmes to develop and demonstrate the advanced concepts that enable Information Advantage in contested environments. Jon leads engagement with allies and partners from UK industry and academia MOD to invest in research both to bring forward the military capabilities essential for future operations and to stimulate the development of skills and facilities in the supply chain.
The work is wide ranging. It stretches from fundamental physical research into the propagation environment; maturing novel communications concepts such as Quantum communications; developing new ideas for networked Information Systems in very congested and dynamic environments; through to developing the C2 models needed to enable decisive action in the age of AI.
Jon has been active in the development of tactical communications and networking capabilities for 25 years, both in government research and in industry where he led a number of successful product developments. Jon is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.
Dr Jack Watling is Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Institute. Jack works extensively with the British and allied militaries on force development and operational analysis. Jack has worked extensively in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, in Iraq during the campaign to defeat Daesh, in Mali, Rwanda and further afield. He is the Co-author alongside Nick Reynolds of War by Others’ Means: Delivering Effective Partner Force Capacity Building (2021).
Caroline Bellamy is the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) first Chief Data Officer. She is responsible for delivering the transformation of Data use and accelerating its exploitation across the Defence estate, recognising data as a strategic asset, second only to our people.
As Chief Data Officer, Caroline spearheaded the first Defence Data Strategy, establishing a paradigm shift in data use across defence, developing new processes, policy, governance, uplifting data skills and advancing the use of leading-edge technology capabilities. The strategic objective for data is to drive decision advantage and insights at pace, realised through cross Defence data exploitation, collaboration, interoperability and integration.
Caroline's work and thought leadership involves her joining forces across the global defence data ecosystem, partnering and forging strong links with NATO, Five Eyes, Partners, Allies and Industry. A core personal focus for Caroline is the development of data capabilities and skills with the next generation of data specialists.
Caroline uses her platform across the Defence Enterprise and her wider Industry network to affect real cultural change, promoting diversity and inclusion at all levels.
Caroline is on the Technology Strategy Advisory Board for Sandhurst, a CIO Advisory Board member for VMWare, and an Advisory Board Member for Kubrik. Caroline has been named as one of 100 most influential people in data (DataIQ), top 20 Women in Data and Technology (Women in Data) and top 100 Global Data Visionaries (Truata).
Caroline's career to date has seen her work within the FTSE 100 and the Public Sector. As an experienced board level executive director, she has led significant digital and data transformations, delivering enterprise-wide data capabilities enabling organisations to unlock the power of data to realise decision advantage, commercial, economic and citizen benefits.
Dr Simona R. Soare specialises in defence innovation, the applications of emerging technologies in defence capabilities, software-defined defence, digital transformation of defence, and future of war. Simona is Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Technology in the Department for Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University.
Prior to her Lancaster role, Simona was research fellow for defence and military analysis with IISS, senior associate analyst for transatlantic defence and EU-NATO cooperation with the EUISS, senior security and defence advisor to the Vice-President of the European Parliament and defence analyst with the Ministry of Defence. Simona holds a PhD in International Security (2011), and she is a US Department of State Fellow and a Denton Fellow.
Among Simona’s latest publications are Simona R. Soare, Software-Defined Defence: Algorithms at war (IISS, London, February 2023); Simona R. Soare, Digitalisation of Defence in NATO and the EU: Making European Defence Fit for the Digital Age (IISS, London, August 2023); Simona R. Soare and Fabrice Pothier, Leading edge: Key drivers of defence innovation and the future of operational advantage (IISS, London, November 2021); Simona R. Soare, J. Burton, and R. Steff (eds), Emerging technologies and international security: the man, machines, and war (London, Routledge, December 2020); Simona R. Soare, European Military AI: Why Regional Approaches are Lagging Behind (Routledge, London, March 2023); Simona R. Soare, Algorithmic power? The role of artificial intelligence in European strategic autonomy (Routledge, London, May 2023); and Simona R. Soare (ed), Turning the Tide: How to rescue transatlantic relations (EUISS, Paris, October 2020).
Rob is BAE Systems Group Technology Director, as part of the Chief Technology & Information Officer organisation. This role involves ensuring the effective utilisation of technology across the company, looking to increase collaboration both internally and externally to achieve our future business growth aspirations. The technology team also encourages an entrepreneurial spirit to develop new and competitive business opportunities.
Rob’s previous role, also in the CTIO organisation, was to lead collaboration across the company’s own divisions and with external companies. A large part of this role was focused on multi-domain integration of communications and control, as Rob brings together BAE Systems’ teams from Land, Sea, Air, Space and Cyber in order to support how their products and services work together, as well as how they use open architectures to allow third-party integration.
RAdm Nick Wheeler was born on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1970. He was educated on the island and in Dorset UK before joining the Royal Navy in 1991.
Trained as a Warfare Officer, he specialised as a Submariner in 1996. Serving predominantly in SSNs he also completed a number of strategic patrols in SSBNs, gaining a wide range of operational experience at sea and ashore. He completed a tour as a J5 planner in a Joint Operational HQ in Basra, Iraq in 2007, before completing staff training at the UK Joint Command and Staff College. In 2010 he took command of HMS TORBAY, the submarine he had qualified in 14 years earlier, and delivered a varied and challenging operational programme. A further command tour followed in HMS TURBULENT which included her final operational patrol before she was decommissioned late in 2012.
Staff roles followed in Portsmouth at Navy Command, managing a substantial budget, and then on the First Sea Lord’s staff in London, dealing with international relations with key partner navies in NATO and the Five Eyes. On promotion to Captain in 2016 he took up the post of DCOM NATO Submarine Command and ACOS SM to MARCOM, delivering day to day NATO Submarine operations and managing UK Maritime contributions to the Alliance. Working closely with CMRE and national authorities, he delivered a series of important NATO exercises, expanding the Alliance’s ASW capability in the face of growing Russian submarine activity in NATO’s AOR. He then completed an assignment to UK Strategic Command where he was responsible for the setting of policy and the delivery of new capability for the joint aspects of C4ISR. He was promoted to Commodore in 2019 and was seconded to different government department where he was responsible for intelligence support to military operations.
On promotion to Rear Admiral in July 2022, he became the Director of the NATO Digital Staff.
Charles Forte was appointed Chief Information Officer for the Ministry of Defence in January 2018. He is the primary advisor to the Defence Board on Information and Digital and is responsible for strategy, policy, delivery, interoperability and protection of all MOD ICT, including cyber security and resilience.
Prior to joining the Ministry of Defence, Charles gained 36 years industry experience from leading IT globally as Deputy Group Global CIO at BP. Since leaving BP, he has worked in a variety of consulting and executive roles. He was CEO of Global IT Services at Prudential, tasked with creating a turnaround in delivery, and as Interim CIO at Thames Water. He has worked as an independent consultant, helping businesses create and deliver change to transform their ability to exploit technology and to build internal capability enabling sustainable and lasting value from IT and business operations.
He has significant experience in leading business innovation, driving business change programmes and designing and leading IT delivery at a very large scale in complex, multi-stakeholder business environments.
Sidharth Kaushal's research at RUSI covers the impact of technology on maritime doctrine in the 21st century and the role of sea power in a state's grand strategy.
Sidharth holds a doctorate in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where his research examined the ways in which strategic culture shapes the contours of a nation's grand strategy.
Mivy James took up her current appointment in February 2024. In this role, she advises UK government departments on their digital transformation, focusing on enterprise architecture and technology strategy. She was previously Digital Transformation Director at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence. Prior to joining BAE Systems in 2005, she worked for several international IT consultancies and corporations.
Andrew Curtis is a defence and security academic, specialising in strategy, the higher management of defence, and military logistics.
His research interests stem from his 35-year career as a Royal Air Force logistics officer, from which he retired in 2019 in the rank of air commodore. His final appointment was programme director of the Defence Support Transformation Programme, the flagship transformation initiative of the MoD’s Modernising Defence Programme. During his career, he gained considerable operational experience through a variety of appointments, including: commander support in the NATO Headquarters at Kandahar Airfield in 2011-12; chief of staff of the Joint Task Force Headquarters that conducted the UK’s 2011 Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation in Libya; and commander of the UK humanitarian contribution following the Haiti earthquake of 2010.
Andrew is a RUSI Associate Fellow and an Associate at Cityforum. He is a regular contributor to defence commentary and debate, and author of two books: Understanding UK Military Capability (2022) and We need to talk about Defence (2024). He was appointed as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2007 and has a PhD in defence studies from King’s College London.
Matthew Savill is the Director of Military Sciences at RUSI, focussing on developments and trends in modern conflict, and the use of force in the 21st Century.
Before joining RUSI he spent over 20 years as a civil servant working on defence and security, predominantly in the Ministry of Defence. He joined the MOD in 2003, starting his career in Defence Intelligence as an Iraq analyst before moving to intelligence coordination and support to operations, and later roles in private office, approvals and scrutiny of major procurement projects, before a return to analysis and a secondment to the Cabinet Office.
He has also specialised in strategy and policy, with roles in: Defence Strategy and Priorities, working on the Integrated Review; the MOD’s Operations Directorate, where he was responsible for operational policy for the Middle East and overseas counter-terrorism; the Cabinet Office National Security Secretariat, to cover intelligence oversight and then Middle East policy; the MOD team responsible for the deployment of the UK Carrier Strike Group in 2021; and operations and crisis team responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His final role in the MOD was responsibility for Special Operations policy, covering oversight of UK Special Forces and intelligence operations.
He attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy Shrivenham in 2010-11, and the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2020, and has a Masters in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He has had articles published in Defence Studies and on The Wavell Room website.
He has deployed on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the Middle East for the military campaign against Daesh.
Matthew was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2008.
John Ridge CBE studied Architectural Engineering before joining the Army. As a junior officer, he completed tours with Commando forces and Gurkha engineers. He later commanded a bomb disposal squadron and a close support engineer regiment, including three tours of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The majority of his staff appointments were in the Ministry of Defence. After attending Higher Command and Staff Course (HCSC), he took command of 8 Engineer Brigade, overseeing the Brigade’s first deployments to South Sudan and Estonia. In September 2017, he was appointed Chief of Joint Force Operations, a tour which included deploying to the Caribbean as the Task Force Commander for the UK’s crisis response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
John left the Army in 2020 to join the Civil Service. He spent two years as Director Strategy and Enterprise Services in Defence Intelligence, where he led transformation and corporate services. In March 2022, he moved to 10 Downing Street on a six-month loan, leading transformation in No10. He returned to MOD in September as Director Defence Innovation.
Dr Sophy Antrobus researches contemporary air power in the context of the institutional, cultural and organisational barriers to innovation in modern air forces, in particular the RAF, at the Freeman Air and Space Institute, King’s College London, where she is a Research Fellow. Her current research areas are on deterrence and risk, and she recently published a paper ‘An Applied History of the RAF’s Approach to Risk and Implications for Modern Warfighting’. She completed her PhD at the University of Exeter in 2019 on the political fight for the RAF in the inter-war years.
Previously, Sophy served in the Royal Air Force for twenty years including in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a tour with the Royal Navy. She is a Fellow and elected member of the Council of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Hudson Fellow with the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre and a member of the RAF Museum’s Research Advisory Board.
