October 28th-30th 2009 Growing closer, staying distinct: merging civilian and military response to CBRN and IED threats

VENUE: World Forum Convention Centre, Churchillplein, The Hague, The Netherlands www.worldforum.nl

The Hague is the “City of Peace, Justice and Security,” and is home to over 80 international organisations. As well as being home to the International Criminal Court, the Organisationfor the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Carnegie Foundation, Nato C3 Agency, and Europol; a host of other international and European organisations also make The Hague their home. It comes as no great surprise then that CBRNe World has chosen The Hague as the venue of their next CBRNe Convergence conference and exhibition.

Like The Hague, CBRNe World has made a reputation for itself as a centre for excellence, albeit in the CBRNE field. Now in its fourth year of publication CBRNe World magazine has provided readers with unparalleled insight into the world of defence against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and improvised explosive devices.

The quarterly magazine provides insights from leading practitioners and scientists in the field and their CBRNeConvergence Conference is no different. The last event, hosted in Bucharest, September 2008 brought together 250 specialists from 24 countries and 40 exhibitors for a two day streamed event more information here.

NBC used to be so simple, it involved two state actors and known weapons and agents. The inclusion of terrorist forces, some state sponsored, some not, a change from warfighting to peace enforcement/keeping and the inclusion of the urban environment has made CBRNE incredibly complicated. The CBRN responder, whether military or civilian, now needs to be part police officer, Hazmat specialist, forensic scientists, biologist and firearms specialist, requiring a range of skills and disciplines that need constant updating to ensure that they don’t become outdated.

Events like CBRNe Convergence where the delegate can meet the whole international range of specialists is invaluable for the networking and personal development that it encourages. Attendance at this event will ensure that you are kept current in the threat and the solution, the technological solutions and the tactics and procedures that your peers are using. The parallel streams allow delegates to pick and choose their presentations and provide a far wider range and insight into this increasingly important field.

CBRNe Convergence 2008 had the largest exhibition of CBRNE equipment in Europe this year, and we feel confident that 2009 will deserve the same accolade. This will give you a chance to see the latest technology in the market and gauge your needs for the next five to ten years. All the major themes and topics are covered in the conference and exhibition: Counter terrorist ops, decontamination, detection, critical infrastructure protection, recce, demil, IED defence, protection, crisis management and EMS. Click here to see conference programme as it currently stands.

There is a great range of choice in the market for CBRN events, many of them by non-specialist companies. CBRNe World does not produce conferences for anyone else, and our programme is chosen by the Editor, Gwyn Winfield, based on his unrivalled insight into the CBRNE community - guaranteeing that the speakers presented represent the best thought in the CBRNE world today.

CBRNe Convergence 2008 culminated in a final day of military exercise by the Romanian MoD - this was a dramatic live demonstration involving special forces, helicopters, EOD specialists and the whole range of CBRN operatives. We are currently under negotiation with a range of agencies to provide a third day that makes the day truly unique.

We are also planning to run a spouses’ programme to ensure that this is a CBRN family event.

What our attendees said about CBRNe Convergence 2008:

“Excellent job, well done, good speakers, interesting mix of participants.”

“Overall the conference was a real success and I am looking forward to the next one, and I hope it will be at least as good as this one.”

“The conference was a complete success and managed to join different worlds inside the same pack with the CBRN matter as bond for discussion of new ideas.”

“The quality of all the speakers was high. Overall an excellent, informative and useful exhibition and conference.”