Last week should have marked the Farnborough International Airshow 2020 but unfortunately the pandemic forced most events to be cancelled across the globe.
We see Farnborough International Airshow as an opportunity to not only bring together industry from all over the world but to provide a platform to showcase the amazing expertise we have here in the UK. Despite the current circumstances our colleagues at Farnborough International decided we could still do this to an extent through a virtual event and thus FIA Connect was born.
FIA Connect brought together nearly 14,000 delegates virtually from 97 countries and provided a platform for announcements, nearly 460 one-to-one Meet the Buyer meetings and 96 sessions across the week, 20 provided by ADS.
Aerospace
On Monday, the ATI launched FlyZero to develop a zero-carbon emission aircraft in the UK by 2030 and the Business Secretary Alok Sharma announced £400 million in grant funding from Government and Industry for a variety of innovative projects through the ATI. These important investments and projects will help our industry be at the forefront of sustainable aviation as we look to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
The AGP held a conference series with a great line up of speakers from across the sector covering topics from COVID-19 restart and recovery to sustainability.
On Wednesday, the Chief Technology Officers of Airbus, Rolls Royce and Safran came together for the 2020 CTO Summit, joined by ATAG’s Executive Director Michael Gill, to discuss progress in aerospace and aviation sustainability.
The SC21 – Recognising Excellence in the Supply Chain virtual event provided the latest opportunity to announce the SC21 Operational Excellence award winners. Overall, 54 companies were recognised in the aerospace and defence supply chains for their hard work in improving operational effectiveness and achieving supply chain excellence.
Defence
In defence, two years on from its launch at Farnborough International Airshow in 2018, it was announced that seven ADS members were partnering with Team Tempest to deliver next generation combat aircraft.
The DGP’s Digital Skills Framework was also unveiled which is designed to provide the defence sector with the transformational skills required to accelerate UK engineering programmes such as the Tempest Future Combat Air Programme.
Diversity
The ADS channel hosted the latest sessions from the Women in Aviation & Aerospace Charter and the Women in Defence Charter, both provided very interesting discussions on why diversity and inclusion is important and what benefits we can take from the pandemic to help create a more inclusive workplace, encouraging more people to join our sectors.
If you missed any sessions that you’d still like to watch they will be available on the FIA Connect platform for the next two weeks, so please do go back and watch.
