Defence Security Events

Dstl to host AI Defence and Security Conference

Posted 10 April 2019

Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the theme for this year’s 'AI Fest', an annual conference hosted by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) that explores the implications of AI for Defence and Security.

The conference will be held on Wednesday 5th June in Basingstoke and will bring together Science and Technology, procurement and the end user communities and will showcase examples of how AI is being used to tackle Defence and Security Challenges. Speakers from MoD and key external partners will be providing a range of perspectives using real case studies to illustrate the successes and challenges of delivering AI into operational use. In addition, suppliers from industry, academia and subject matter experts are invited to the event to showcase the very latest AI technology and capabilities they have to offer.

Dr Steven Meers, Dstl’s Head of AI Lab, said: "AI is one of the most exciting and rapidly developing areas of Science and Technology. Understanding how to responsibly exploit the benefits, but also how to counter the threats presented by AI is a critical issue for the Defence and Security community; this is an area where we need to ensure we are working closely with our suppliers both in industry and academia.

"By broadening our supply base we will improve access to the best AI solutions for Defence and Security. There will be a lot to see at the event, including a large exhibition area with demonstrations and stands hosted by a wide variety of suppliers from academia, SMEs and larger defence contractors."

The event is expected to attract more than 400 attendees including military end users, MoD capability planners and acquisition staff, as well as Dstl scientists and engineers along with international partners. AI Fest is a great opportunity for the community to understand better how to adopt AI in a manner that makes us all safer and more secure.

The conference is set to run in two halves, the morning session forming the main conference session with a number of presentations to all government attendees. The afternoon session will be broken out into eight separate syndicates to cover a wide variety of topics at greater depth – attendees will be signing up to these in advance of the conference.

Throughout the lunch interval attendees will explore the supplier exhibition area, which will remain open during the afternoon syndicate session slots.

To register your interest or to take part in the event as a supplier, contact the AI lab team at ai_lab@dstl.gov.uk (closing date Thursday 18th April 2019).