How fiction can prepare us for a disruptive digital future – a conversation with August Cole

This week on the Shephard Defence Podcast, we explore the evolution of military simulation and training technologies, including advancements in cloud computing, networked training, and the increasing use of simulation in response to changing military demands.

Jeff Tasseron, director of strategic growth for CAE, talks to Dr Alix Valenti about how new simulation and training technologies are impacting the defence sector.

Each month on the Shephard Defence Podcast, our team of international journalists and analysts take deep dives into defence issues, focusing on niche market sectors and looking at where the trends are heading.

We also feature regular content developed by Shephard Studio in cooperation with our partners.

With so much criticism of UK defence procurement, it can be hard to know what's fact and what is hyperbole. Shephard sat down with Professor John Louth, formerly of RUSI, and co-author of a new paper on defence procurement to get his take on the state of the way the UK buys its kit.

Each month on the Shephard Defence Podcast, our team of international journalists and analysts take deep dives into defence issues, focusing on niche market sectors and looking at where the trends are heading.

We also feature regular content developed by Shephard Studio in cooperation with our partners.

This week on the Shephard Defence Podcast, senior naval reporter Harry Lye and military training & simulation reporter Norbert Neumann chat about the big news stories from IDEX in Abu Dhabi.

Each month on the Shephard Defence Podcast, our team of international journalists and analysts take deep dives into defence issues, focusing on niche market sectors and looking at where the trends are heading.

We also feature regular content developed by Shephard Studio in cooperation with our partners.

We recently released a multimedia project in partnership with Fujitsu Defence and National Security, focusing on digital readiness and cognitive advantage.   

In this bonus podcast episode, we hear from two industry experts as they guide us through the complex landscape of the future battlespace. 

We speak with Neil Dove, Vice President of Fujitsu Defence and National security in the UK, and Andy Laidler, chief digital officer for the defence business in which he oversees investment in new technologies.

Click here to learn more about the themes discussed

Shephard's editorial team - senior naval reporter Harry Lye, military training & simulation reporter Norbert Neumann and Asia Pacific editor Gordon Arthur - nominate the most remarkable defence stories of 2022.

To learn more, see the team's online overview of the five most significant news across the air, land, naval, uncrewed, training and defence notes of our website. 

Each month on the Shephard Defence Podcast, our team of international journalists and analysts take deep dives into defence issues, focusing on niche market sectors and looking at where the trends are heading.

We also feature regular content developed by Shephard Studio in cooperation with our partners.

Professor Colin Williams, an expert in the history of cybernetics, explores the birth of the machine, its infancy in modern society and path towards maturation.

Prof Williams is an honorary visiting professor at the Cyber Technology Institute at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), an honorary Fellow at the Cyber Security Centre at the University of Warwick, and a PhD researcher at the University of Oxford researching the early history of cybernetics.

This conversation was recorded as part of a Shephard Studio project sponsored by Fujitsu Defence and National Security.

To learn more about the themes discussed, head over to www.digitalreadiness.tech

This week on the Shephard Defence Podcast, senior naval reporter Harry Lye and military training & simulation reporter Norbert Neumann chat about the big news stories from I/ITSEC,  the world's largest modeling, simulation and training event.

Harry is also joined by Chris Lade, Defence Sales Manager at Saab Sea Eye, about the trends and challenges of seabed warfare.

Each month on the Shephard Defence Podcast, our team of international journalists and analysts take deep dives into defence issues, focusing on niche market sectors and looking at where the trends are heading.

We also feature regular content developed by Shephard Studio in cooperation with our partners.

Innovation is a crucial topic in national security circles. For organisations to seize the advantage, it is vital to approach innovation not simply as a technological phenomenon but as a cultural and organisational priority.

Part of the challenge is interpreting current advances and determining the future impact they will have in terms of both technology and organisational culture.

August Cole is an author and futurist who explores the future of conflict through FICINT – fictional intelligence storytelling.

His work focuses on the evolution of warfare and the role that robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) will play in the not-too-distant future.

In this special episode of the podcast, Dr. Keith Dear – who is Managing Director, Centre for Cognitive and Advanced Technologies at Fujitsu UK – and August Cole discuss how new technologies are radically altering the national security landscape.

The conversation was recorded as part of a Shephard Studio project sponsored by Fujitsu Defence and National Security.

To learn more about the themes discussed, head over to www.digitalreadiness.tech

These are uncertain and changing times for UK politics and defence strategy.

So much has changed — domestically and in the world at large — since the UK government released the Integrated Review and MoD Command Paper in early 2021.

Shephard Media's news editor Ben Vogel sits down with General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of the UK's  Joint Forces Command, to discuss whether the Integrated Review’s assumptions remain valid in today’s changed security and defence climate.

The discussion forms part of a wider package of content delivered by the Shephard Media editorial team.

So much has changed — domestically and in the world at large — since the UK government released the Integrated Review and MoD Command Paper in early 2021.

In this special podcast episode, Shephard Media's team of subject-matter experts looks into the key points in these documents, and ask if the assumptions behind them remain valid in the changed security and defence climate today.

The discussion forms part of a wider package of content delivered by the Shephard Media editorial team.