The 2018 World Counter Terror Congress (WCTC) and Ambition conference will run on March 6 and 7 March, and will feature speakers from the most nations in the event’s history; the UK, United States, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, EU and NATO.
For the first time, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) will participate in the WCTC. Grant Mendenhall, assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division of the organisation, will give a unique insight into how the organisation detects, deters and disrupts terror threats to the United States. Also invited to speak; Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol; Dr Gerhard Conrad, Director of the EU Intelligence and Situation Centre; Chief Commissioner Michel Goovaerts, Chief of the Brussels Police; First Commissioner Jean-Pierre Devos, Intelligence and Analysis for the Federal Police Belgium; Superintendent Magnus Sjöberg, Head of Counterterrorism Process at the Swedish Police’s National Counterterrorism Council (NTR); and Gunnar Carlsson, President and Co-founder of Ayasdi – a US-based artificial intelligence software business.
Assistant Chief Constable Terri Nicholson, Deputy Senior National Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Policing National Operations Centre for the Met Police will be complemented by numerous other UK-based speakers, including Claudia Sturt, Director of Security, Order and Counterterrorism for HM Prison and Probation Service, and Detective Chief Superintendent Scott Wilson, National Co-ordinator Protect & Prepare, National Counter Terrorism Policing HQ.
Ambition – a UK event for emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) – has lined up global speakers to discuss mitigating the impact of a terrorist attack. Dr François Braun, National Head of the Urgent Medical Aid Service (SAMU), France, will discuss the approaches adopted and lessons learned from SAMU’s medical response to multisite terrorist attacks in Paris. Also invited to speak: Dr Robert MacFarlane, assistant director of Resilience Doctrine, Training and Standards, Civil Contingencies Secretariat for the UK Cabinet Office; Colonel Laurent Phelip, Commander of the Gendarmerie National Intervention Group (GIGN) for the French Gendarmerie; and Dr Fredrik Bynander, Research Director for Centre for Crisis Management Research and Training in Sweden. Other conference sessions will cover critical national infrastructure, cyber, special ops, keeping major events and borders secure, and how to integrate security at the design stage of major projects.
Richard Walton, UK Security Week Special Advisor and former Head of Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) at New Scotland Yard, said: “UK Security Week’s conference programme will address critical issues in our preparedness and ability to prevent and protect nations, businesses and the public from future attacks. The speakers lined-up for next year’s events are leaders in their fields and no other event can match the expertise they will bring together. It is an invaluable experience for everyone working in the security industry and is not to be missed.”
To register for access to the week’s events, visit http://bit.ly/2kwHCCl and use guest code UKSW18.
(professionalsecurity, N.Sethurupan)