One-day Conference: Sydney, May 2023

Chris Stevens

Managing Director, CartGIS

Chris Stevens is Managing Director of CartGIS Pty Ltd, an emergency management, GIS and mapping and communications consultancy company based in Melbourne. Chris has extensive experience in LMR network design, planning and implementation as well as GIS and mapping application design and commissioning.

CartGIS Pty Ltd also specialises in bespoke training and education for the critical communication community. Chris has extensive qualifications and experience in secondary, tertiary and workplace training and education, which, coupled with his communication experience, delivers industry and client focused outcomes.

Chris is also Co-Vice President of ARCIA, and Sub-committee convenor of training and education for ARCIA.

Andrew May

Executive Manager, Spectrum Engineering Australia

Andrew is the Executive Manager of Spectrum Engineering Australia and has been with Spectrum Engineering for 19 years. During this time he has amassed a broad and intimate working knowledge of the regulatory environment and the coordination and licensing requirements for radio services in Australia. He now leads a team of professional engineers who provide licensing solutions to all sectors of the radio industry including the major carriers, government and the private sector.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Computer Engineering with First Class Honours from the University of Wollongong. He holds accreditation under the Australian Communications and Media Authority to issue Frequency Assignment Certificates and Interference Impact Certificates, and holds Approved Radio Certifier (ARC) status under New Zealand’s Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) branch.

Peter Hilly

Director, Spectrum Engineering Australia

Peter Hilly is an engineer and the Director of Spectrum Engineering Australia. He spent the early years of his professional engineering career working for Government, including a five year period with the then Department of Communications, Radio Frequency Management Division, eventually occupying the position of Head of the Spectrum Planning Group.

He left the Department in 1986 to establish Spectrum Engineering Australia as the first independent provider of frequency management services in this country. In 1995 he became the first person to become “accredited” under the new Radiocommunications Act to issue frequency assignment certificates.

Peter has a background of some 40 years of continuous “hands on” experience in spectrum management in Australia and has been involved in this business on both sides of the counter.  He has followed the development of the spectrum regulatory process in Australia over the lifetime of five regulatory bodies since to Post & Telecommunications Department of the late nineteen-seventies and was witness at the birth of the two Radiocommunications Acts, 1983 and 1992.

Peter holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the University of NSW, and an MBA from the University of Canberra.

Hamish Duff

Managing Director, Mastercom; President, ARCIA

Hamish is the Managing Director of Mastercom and a founding Director of the Orion Network. A specialist in wide-area radio networks, Hamish has a genuine understanding of the pressures faced out in the field and the role that efficient communications plays to help people every day.

Hamish is passionate about transforming businesses through the application of digital mobile radio technology. With a career in communications spanning more than 30 years, Hamish is skilled in making the complex simple —engineering communication solutions to support the needs of all users—from the control room to the field. A member of the Australian Radio Communications Industry Association (ARCIA), Hamish is highly regarded for his technical competency and in 2009 was awarded an ARCIA technical excellence award.

Simon Lardner

Co-Founder, Challenge Networks

Simon is the co-founder of Challenge Networks, a telecommunications system integrator specialising in the design, build and management of small-scale carrier networks around the world. 

More recently, Challenge has become a world leader in the deployment of private LTE networks for the resources sector. Simon has over 27 years of international experience in the telecommunications industry specialising in mobile network design and implementation.

Dr Paul Elmes

Managing Director (Asia-Pacific), Tait Communications

Originally from the UK, Paul emigrated to New Zealand in 2006 where he worked for Tait Communications as a product manager and principal engineer until early 2010.

An engineer by training, Paul began his career as a research scientist at the UK’s Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. During this time, Paul completed a doctorate on the development of novel sonar transducers for the Royal Navy.

Paul has a broad background of experience across both the public and private sectors, holding senior positions in government departments, educational establishments and commercial enterprises.

Paul returned to Tait Communications in 2016 as the Product Line Manager for the P25 portfolio.  Most recently, he was the VP of Product Management, responsible for Tait’s global product portfolio.

James Pickens

Chief Digital and Technology Officer, NSW Telco Authority

James Pickens is the Chief Digital and Technology Officer and has been with Telco since July 2022. He is responsible for the cyber security, digital and ICT portfolio, including the engineering, quality assurance and reliability of the state’s Public Safety Network (PSN), which is used by emergency services for mission-critical telecommunications.

With nearly 25 years’ experience managing a wide range of national telecommunications and IT networks, platforms and systems in Australia and the UK, James brings a wealth of expertise to Telco through analysis improvement, logical decision making and increasing customer digital engagement.

Matthew Wormald

Operational Communications Leader, Fire and Rescue NSW

Matthew’s career with Fire and Rescue NSW spans more than 17 years. During his career, Matthew has worked in a variety of roles including as a firefighter in fire stations across New South Wales, Specialised Operations, Education and Training and most recently Operational Communications.

He leads the Operational Communications branch which is responsible for all wireless systems and Triple Zero call-taking and dispatch for NSW. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical—with Honours, USYD) and is a volunteer with the NSW Rural Fire Service for the last 20 years in both operational and training capacities across NSW.

David Deacon

CEO, Etherstack plc

David Deacon founded Etherstack in Sydney in 1995 and oversaw the company’s expansion around the world including the establishment of R&D offices in New York, Yokohama and Reading (UK).

David’s original vision for Etherstack was as a specialist wireless technology licensing company providing underlying technologies for the land mobile radio and defence communications industries. As the company grew, Etherstack branched out into transceiver design, manufacturing and deployment of complete turnkey digital radio networks.

In recent years, Etherstack has developed underlying network components for 3GPP MCX networks and is currently the lead supplier of the LMR InterWorking function for the AT&T FirstNet project in the United States. The company has also been at the forefront of PTT over Satellite solutions and has deployed a P25 over Satellite solution for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police inside the Arctic Circle.

Khalil Habash

Account Director, Nokia Australia

Khalil is an Account Director at Nokia working focused on supporting customers build next-generation mission-critical communications networks.

Khalil is passionate about working with organisations to transform and enhance their operational environments through the application of advanced communications technology. With an international career in Telecommunications spanning more than 25 years, Khalil remains obsessed with supporting his customers to leverage technology to enhance their operations and the life and outcomes of all their users and the communities they serve.

Darren Tuohy

Principal Consultant, Motorola Solutions

Darren Tuohy has been involved with public safety communication for over 40 years—starting as a sworn officer within the Queensland Police’s radio and electronics division and, since 1989, with Motorola Solutions in various technical and management roles in locations across Australia and internationally.

Throughout his career, Darren has been instrumental in the sales, delivery, and senior engagement for many of the Australian State-based radio networks, from as early as 1993 with the initial New South Wales GRN, through to the most recent Tasmanian GRN.

With a passion for operational benefits and outcomes, Darren’s focus on evolving trends, products and solutions has him playing a key role in Motorola Solutions’ strategy for public safety mobile broadband and the critical interoperability with existing LMR networks.

Darren is now a Principal Consultant for Motorola Solutions based in Sydney, Australia, and holds formal qualifications in engineering and business administration.

Graham Tait AFSM GIFireE

Mesh Solutions lead, Hypha

Graham Tait AFSM has recently retired as a firefighter following a 40 year career with Fire & Rescue NSW, including 37 years as a career firefighter and officer. He continues to serve as a volunteer firefighter with the NSW Rural Fire Service where he has been a member for the past 45 years.

During his career, he specialised in the areas of both Rescue and Operational Communications. He was a member of the AUS2 Urban Search & Rescue team for 12 years and has been deployed to various incidents including the Christchurch Earthquake, Japan Tsunami, Vanuatu Cyclone and Indonesian Earthquake as both a rescue team member and communications lead officer. He dedicated himself to the area of operational communications, managing areas including Computer Aided Dispatch, Automatic Vehicle Location, Mobile Data, radio networks and hardware, GIS, and field deployable communications systems.

He has been recognised for his leadership in the Public Safety technology space both in Australia and Internationally and continues to advocate for advances in communications and technology that will provide improvements in safety and efficiency for front line emergency personnel.

Following his retirement from full time firefighting, he has taken up a role with Hypha Ltd to ensure he can bring his experience to the business and can continue to advance technology for the first responder community.

Roger Kane

Co-Chair, Australasian Critical Communications Forum (ACCF)

Roger has extensive management experience within Australia and Asia in technology-related businesses including IT, telecommunications and engineering.

Roger has particular experience in distribution and service related businesses.

As Co-Chair of ACCF, Roger holds a BSc(Physics) from Imperial College London and an MBA from Deakin University.

Michael Peacocke

Business Development Manager, SAT Pty Ltd

Michael is a New Zealand-born communications expert who has spent the last 18 years working with radio link design and SCADA radio systems. Initially gaining experience at 4RF Limited, he now works at SAT PTY LTD.

Since moving to Australia in 2007, he has been actively supporting the critical communications industry by drawing on his comprehensive knowledge base which includes the latest technologies and trends.

Michael is passionate about helping organisations achieve their communications goals through innovative solutions that are tailored to their specific needs. He is an experienced problem-solver and enjoys the challenge of finding the best possible solution for any given situation.

Brad Welch

General Manager, TPL Systems Asia-Pacific

Starting as an Apprentice Radio Technician in Mt Isa, Brad has over 30 years’ experience in the critical communications industry including over 25 years’ experience in Critical Messaging.

This experience has seen him working for companies such as Hutchison Telecoms (now Vodafone Messaging), Selective Communications in New Zealand, WiPath Communications Australia and now TPL Systems Asia-Pacific. Brad has been heavily involved with providing critical response solutions and support in the Emergency Services and Healthcare markets.

Brad’s strength is listening to the customer and their requirements, using his experience to provide the most suitable outcomes to shorten critical response times and maximise the customer experience.

Rob Zagarella

CEO and Co-Founder, NNNCo

Rob is NNNCo’s CEO and Co-Founder. A global business leader with a proven ability to translate vision, strategy, technology and innovation into existing and new commercial revenue streams across a range of industries including Energy, Utilities, Telecommunications and Defence.

Rob has been an innovator and inventor in IoT in the area of machine-to-machine sensing, communications, wide area networking and enterprise software and has successfully leveraged those entrepreneurial skills as a leader in start-ups (Australia and USA), University-based commercialisation, and large global corporations including General Electric, Grid Sense and Grid Net.

Rob has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He is also a graduate of Stanford Business School Live-In Executive Program and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is also a LoRaWAN Global Ambassador.