What will you be speaking about at CCW 2022? Why is that an important topic?

I will be involved in the panel discussion titled ‘How to get broadband services up and running: funding opportunities’. I believe it is important to discuss how public sector players such as Business Finland can support user-focused development and utilisation of the latest technologies.

What are the key messages that you would like people to take away after attending your conference session?

Let’s embrace technological development, but also work together in open and trust-creating ways, both in our [own] countries and internationally. Public sector players need to support the safe and secure development of public safety and critical communications ecosystems and infrastructure. [They also need to] work closely with companies and research organisations.

What do you see as being the big issues and challenges for the sector over the next five years?

Societies are increasingly interlinked, and ever-more dependant on fluent communication and growing amounts of data. This is more critical than ever. Transition from voice-centric services to information-centric services continues, [so] security and availability [also continues to be] extremely important.

In many parts of Europe there is strong economic pressure due to changing demographics, such as the ‘ageing population.’ There is also the series of crises we’ve seen in recent years, such as war and the pandemic.

Critical communication and cybersecurity technologies and processes need to evolve. It is therefore important to fund and foster this development in collaborative fashion, in order to prevent fragmentation.

What will be the most transformative development in terms of the technology? What will that development mean for user operations, as well as the broader market?

5G and AI definitely are technologies that change the landscape, and take-up is increasing in both. Looking into the research, it is also now time to work on 6G, as well as quantum computing and quantum-proof cybersecurity.

Increasingly, the primary limiting factor for more advanced and efficient field operations are cultures and traditions. Users are to be encouraged to embrace possibilities, recognise opportunities, and identify gaps.

Critical Communications World 2022 takes place between 21-23 June at the Messe Vienna, Austria