Alastair MacGibbon, special adviser to the Prime Minister on Cyber Security, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, will look at security issues as they affect government, the public sector and the entire country.

Harvey Stockbridge, managing director, Hannover Fairs Australia, organisers of CeBIT, says next year’s event to be staged from 23-25 May at Sydney’s Darling Harbour convention centre, will encompass eight dedicated conferences with over 170 expert speakers.

Stockbridge says eight concurrent conferences will focus on key issues facing businesses today, “from finding the value in big data, to securing businesses against the recent escalation in cybercrime, to seizing opportunities for Australian FinTech companies and future-proofing businesses against continued threats of mobility solutions”.

“Competition in the business environment has never been more intense so it is critical leaders learn about the current environment including all opportunities and threats to effectively plan for the future. CeBIT offers unrivalled education for all levels of business, from enterprise, SMEs and start-ups,” Stockbridge says.

Other speakers at CeBIT 2017 will include Sophie Gilder, head of Blockchain, Commonwealth Bank of Australia; Dr Peter Lawrence, chief information officer, Department of Defence; Joe Rogalski, director, Architecture and Process, Lion; Dr Lesley Seebeck, deputy director Information Systems and Services & CIO, Bureau of Meteorology; Angela Coble, director Business Technology (CIO) Medical Devices, Johnson & Johnson; Dr Carolyn Patteson, executive manager, CERT Australia; Katherine Squire, general manager, Application Development & DevOps, ASX; Dr Sam Robertson, senior research fellow, Western Bulldogs Football Club, and Greg Gale, national security officer, Microsoft.

In total there will be 170 expert speakers and more than 350 exhibitors including 100 disruptive start-up innovators at CeBIT next year.