Latest news
South Australia to host major defence event in 2024
IEEE restart sponsorship of MAST
Athens briefing report: Sights trained on inclusive Greek defence landscape
Over 2,000 attendees confirmed for MAST MED 2022 conference & exhibition
News archive
South Australia to host major defence event in 2024
Fri 10 Feb 2023 @ 13:15
Adelaide has secured the hosting rights for the leading international maritime, air and space technologies defence event – MAST 2024 – becoming the first Southern Hemisphere city to host the event in its 17-year history.
Comprising a number of business gatherings, tradeshows and talent fairs, the three-day event will run from 19-21 November 2024 at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
MAST 2024 is themed ‘Talent, Technologies, Transfer’ and will explore issues of relevance to the Indo-Pacific region, drawing thousands of senior level government, military representatives and researchers from across the global defence community.
High calibre plenary speakers, technical sessions and exhibits will help to foster business opportunities for South Australian companies.
South Australian defence capabilities will be on display with undergraduates in STEM-related fields from local universities to present to delegates.
There will also be an Innovation Hub, providing a platform for Lot Fourteen and Tonsley Innovation District defence and space companies to promote their cutting-edge products and technologies.
A hackathon will be live-streamed from the cyber range at the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD.
With more than 70 per cent of delegates expected to come from outside South Australia, MAST 2024 is expected to provide a major boost for local tourism.
The South Australian Government worked with Business Events Adelaide, the Adelaide Convention Centre and Tourism Australia to present a compelling case against competing Australian and global cities to secure MAST to Adelaide in 2024.
South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas said: “South Australia’s reputation as the nation’s defence state is reaffirmed with MAST 2024 set to showcase our leading defence capabilities on the global stage.
“In the face of a rapidly shifting security environment, the South Australian Government is committed to growing the skills and capabilities of our defence industry to meet future defence needs and international partnerships are an important part of addressing this challenge.
“To host this business event in our region for the first time is an enormous opportunity for our state, the nation and our Indo-Pacific neighbours and we look forward to welcoming the international defence community to Adelaide in 2024.”
Susan Close, South Australia Deputy Premier and Minister for Defence and Space Industries, said: “Home to seven of the world’s top ten defence primes, more than 300 defence industry businesses, world-class defence infrastructure and a research community working at the cutting-edge, South Australia is leading the way in strengthening Australia’s sovereign defence capabilities.
“MAST 2024 offers an important opportunity to bring together policy and decision makers, defence industry and the R&D community to celebrate innovation and share perspectives in global defence policy, operations and future technologies.”
Robin Mack, Tourism Australia Executive General Manager Commercial and Business Events, said: “There is no doubt that the financial support offered through the Business Events Bid Fund Program helped to bring MAST to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time and it is also ensuring we have a strong pipeline of international business events in Australia.
“We congratulate Adelaide on the successful bid to host this business event, which is expected to provide a multi-million dollar boost to our visitor economy.”
Warren Edge, MAST (Maritime/Air Systems & Technologies) CEO, said: “We thank the South Australian Government for their support and initiative to bring this dynamic event to Adelaide and look forward to an ongoing relationship to regularly unite global defence communities – from sea-bed to space – in Australia’s Defence State.
“There is no other defence ecosystem in Australia like the ‘20 Minute City’ of Adelaide, where you can meet SME innovators, primes, manufacturers, government officials and military leaders in such close proximity. Our combination of events will speed that process up – all under one roof.”
IEEE restart sponsorship of MAST
Thu 7 Jul 2022 @ 8:48
We are delighted to announce the restart of collaborations between MAST conferences and IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES). This relationship previously served well to increase the depth/level of conference content, and broaden the range of topics discussed.
From MAST Med 2022 (2–4 November, Athens, Greece) onwards, delegates/sponsors/exhibitors can again expect the very highest standard of support for the event.
“Following our earlier engagements, we are happy to announce that IEEE OES will again be a technical sponsor of MAST.
“The goal of this partnership is to promote MAST amongst OES members and technical committees, recognizing the mutual interests shared amongst MAST and OES scientific communities and members.
“The visibility given to OES by MAST activities allows OES to be further disseminated among the defence community widening the typical audiences of OES, and believes this will be a fruitful, mutually beneficial partnership in the coming years."
— Fausto Ferreira, Vice President for Workshops & Symposia, IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (OES)
NATO Naval Armaments Group (NNAG) Annual Meeting
Over 2,400 defence leaders waiting to meet you at Greece’s only global event dedicated to naval defence
Wed 27 Apr 2022 @ 9:20
This November, meet your global colleagues, counterparts (…and competitors) in Athens to discover the importance of future systems to the operational/procurement landscape, and where R&D will lead industry to best invest developmental funding.
If you need the facts behind the current Greek defence procurement plans and the actual specs of competing platforms, MAST Med is the only “post-Covid” live event that will put you face-to-face with the operators, policy makers, and technologists shaping the future of naval warfare.
Whether you join us as a full conference delegate, visitor, exhibitor/sponsor, or as a hosted buyer, MAST Med is the only weapon you need in your Greek defence marketing arsenal.
Equally, with NATO’s Naval Armaments Group’s annual meeting being held within MAST Med, some 50+ defence leaders and heads of delegation will be on hand to discuss eery aspect of naval warfare in the Mediterranean theatre.
Athens briefing report: Sights trained on inclusive Greek defence landscape
Thu 10 Mar 2022 @ 11:29
Last week’s Armed Forces Officers Club meeting united numerous senior-level military leaders, policy makers, armaments directors, academia/R&D, and industry leaders.
Attendance outstripped expectations, with 50 in-person attendees, 300 streaming live online, and subsequent 600 downloads for a taster of topics and technologies for the main MAST Med 2022 event in Athens this November.
Discussions homed in on a need for “closer consultation between government, military, industry, R&D, and academia”, to ensure Greek military leaders receive equipment ready for both current and future operations.
The critical roles of R&D and academia in supply chains was stressed: identifying and developing technologies that “broker” future military capabilities requirements and Ministry of Defence budgets, with industry’s own technology research investments:
“Something overlooked by typical trade-shows, which display mainly current/available technologies without reference to sustainable/future systems”
— Anonymous RADM attendee
Some concern was expressed by Greek industry over both a lack of financial support, and cohesion amongst associations, to guarantee a breadth of Hellenic industries competences/offerings/and research activities are adequately represented in a variety of diverse global defence arenas.
Acknowledging the outcomes of the meeting, MAST Med 2022 guarantees that the expressed interests/concerns of all key stakeholders are well covered in top-level plenary sessions, technical conference exchanges, exhibition displays and networking functions within its overarching theme: “The Mediterranean: Laboratory for Naval Warfare”.
Over 2,000 attendees confirmed for MAST MED 2022 conference & exhibition
Mon 21 Feb 2022 @ 11:37
As Greece prepares to host its first MAST this November (and Covid fatigue sets in across the events sector), the global maritime defence community – keen to return to live events – are registering for MAST Med 2022 in droves: over 2,000 participants have confirmed their presence for central Athens event.
Including hosted VIPs from across the globe, pre-registered conference delegates/speakers and exhibition visitors/exhibitors have been recorded from: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.
From a diverse range of backgrounds, notably most are international armaments directors, policy makers, operators, technologists, or academics.
So whether you want to join your global counterparts, customers or suppliers, MAST Med is a MUST.
