Comms and ICT conferences come together

The Comms Connect and BICSI South Pacific conferences and expos will run side by side in Melbourne in November.

BICSI South Pacific, the peak industry body representing designers and installers of information and communications technology (ICT) systems, has entered into a partnership with WF Media (publisher of Critical Comms), with the aim to enhance and develop BICSI’s national conference and expo.

To that end, the 2019 BICSI conference and exhibition will co-locate with WF Media’s flagship event, Comms Connect, at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 27–28 November.

BICSI’s conference will continued to be organised and run by BICSI, while WF Events will take on responsibility for exhibition and sponsorship sales, along with marketing and event logistics, and will work closely with BICSI to deliver a focused audience and quality experience for all.

“We see this as an excellent opportunity to take the BICSI Conference and Exhibition to another level,” said BICSI South Pacific CEO Paul Stathis. “Running BICSI conferences with just our own limited resources for several years impeded our desire to expand their scale. WF Media brings quality, targeted media channels to the mix, which we believe will result in an energised event for our members and the broader ICT infrastructure sector. The fit is a good one.”

Comms Connect organiser and WF Events Director Paul Davis has welcomed the opportunity to work with BICSI to enhance the event. “We’re looking forward to working closely with BICSI on this project, with a view to a mutually beneficial, long-term alliance,” he said. “Communications infrastructure, whether wireless or wired, is critically important and the co-location of these two events will give those responsible for all aspects access to a broad range of world-class providers.”

BICSI South Pacific membership encompasses ICT professionals in the residential, commercial and government sectors, with interests spanning not just voice and data (including outside plant and LAN) but also audio, video, life safety and automation systems.

This year’s conference and exhibition will enable delegates to experience presentations from local and international thought leaders on numerous important topical issues, such as:

• Standards and regulations: Key members of standards committees will give presentations, including on AS/NZS 11801.1, AS 11801.2-6, AS/CA S008:2019 and AS/CA S009:2019.
• IoT, smart buildings and smart cities: The conference will feature case studies, with academics and industry experts sharing their vision of trends and developments.
• Data centres: This year the focus will be on edge DCs, their unique characteristics and some of the solutions to the challenges they bring to the industry.
• 5G infrastructure: Network architecture, deployment methodologies and infrastructure will feature prominently in the conference program and in the exhibition hall.

In addition there will be content on infrastructure for intelligent transport and autonomous vehicles; Power over Ethernet and digital power; wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Li-Fi and free-space optics; and intellectual property. “After two days, delegates will walk away with a far better perspective of what’s on, and what’s beyond, the digital technology horizon,” said Stathis.

“The exhibition hall will bring together in one place at one time, all the subject matter experts from the industry, all keen to speak with the market and answer whatever questions are thrown at them,” he added.

As well as the Comms Connect conference and exhibition series, WF Events also runs the SAFETYconnect conference and exhibition in partnership with the NSCA Foundation.

Images courtesy BICSI South Pacific

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