News story

Fourth Future Electromagnetic Environment symposium 2023

Representatives from industry, academia and across government are invited to join the OFEME symposium to work alongside Dstl’s scientists and shape future thinking.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) will host its fourth Operating in the Future Electromagnetic Environment (OFEME) symposium on 20 and 21 November 2023. Supported by the Electromagnetic Environment (EME) Hub, academics, suppliers (including small and medium-sized enterprises) and colleagues from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and other government departments are all invited.

This is planned to be an in-person event in Nottingham at the East Midlands Conference Centre, but the main talks will also be live-streamed for those who are unable to attend.

The electromagnetic environment is crucial for many sectors including healthcare and mobility (moving people, goods and services), and for a connected society. In defence, spectrum dependent systems are ever present across, land, maritime, air and space. Their uses include communications, sensing, weapons systems and more.

As demand grows, reliable access to the electromagnetic spectrum becomes more challenging. From a defence perspective, adversaries will actively contest spectrum access, such as through electronic warfare, to deliberately deny or degrade access. Maintaining freedom of action and delivering effects in and through the electromagnetic environment is therefore an important and growing challenge.

The event will cover:

  • shared challenges for operating within the future electromagnetic environment, both inside and outside of defence
  • how research and development investment can be harnessed in future approaches

It will feature:

  • a range of keynote speakers
  • technical presentations
  • poster sessions
  • interactive workshops

Presentations will consider advances and implications in topics including:

  • Timing precision for distributed systems
  • Electromagnetic spectrum access and planning
  • Mathematical innovation for decision making strategies
  • Human performance: decision making and trust
  • Free-space optical communications
  • Quantum RF (radio frequency) sensing

Dstl-led workshops will consider challenges in areas, such as:

  • Communications and networks
  • Space environment
  • Operating in the future EME

If you would like to create a poster abstract highlighting the themes of the symposium, please submit using our online form OFEME 2023 Poster Abstract Submission by 28 July 2023. We will make a decision by 25 August 2023.

Posters will be presented across both of the two conference days. Some authors will also be invited to give lightning talks based on their poster abstracts.

OFEME 2023 will be joined up with the inaugural Future Sensing and Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Symposium. Delegates registering for OFEME 2023 can participate in both events.

To request an invitation to the event, please complete the online form OFEME 2023 – Expression of Interest by 6 October 2023. We will then send you a link to complete the symposium delegate registration.

Any information that is to be presented by any party at this symposium and further that is detailed within this event will be deemed to be in the public domain and therefore will not require further approval for its use by the receiving parties not withstanding any rights of ownership of information set in law.

Published 26 May 2023
Last updated 29 June 2023 + show all updates
  1. Added information management notice.

  2. First published.