MS&T are proud to be lead media partner at IT²EC 2022, Europe’s primary forum for simulation training in the military sector.

This year’s event which will take place at London's ExCeL Centre from April 26-28th 2022 and the theme will be: Navigating Rapidly Evolving Technologies for Training and Education

In preparation, MS&T Editor Rick Adams and MS&T Special Correspondent Andy Fawkes have picked out some must-read pieces that will set you up perfectly for all your discussion with industry peers at IT²EC.

Remember, you can come and meet the Halldale team at Stand G7 to discuss the latest advances in simulation training and more.

Emerging Technologies

Games Engines Increase Their Power. Game engines have been exploited in defence for many years but the companies behind them are also moving into providing professional services for the simulation and training community.

Has the Military Been Building the Metaverse? It seems that most tech company CEOs are mentioning the metaverse. But what is the metaverse, why is it important and is the military already building it? 

Small Booths with Big Ideas at I/ITSEC. Catering to the rise of digital natives. Cadets from the Air Force and Space Force drew a decent crowd for their battles against each other on a Nintendo Wii rather than the latest flight simulator or VR concept.

CAE-Link Redux. While the world was preoccupied with the pandemic, CAE went on a buying binge, including a major rival in defense training. 

Human Factors/Training

Gladiator – Towards Greater Networked Training. Understanding Project Gladiator, the UK’s networked air collective training, capability development, and mission preparation initiative.

Death Knell for Live Training? The live training domain continues to mature. Learning technologies are being increasingly integrated into live events and scenarios, providing servicemembers with higher fidelity, more rigorous and increasingly relevant training.

Training for Improved Situation Awareness. In the modern complex and tightly coupled systems built around safety critical industries we can easily get swamped into the multitude of tasks we undertake. One key tactic to safely navigate through complexity and tight coupling is to maintain good situation awareness. 

Human Factor Considerations in Online Training Design. As more training is delivered online, training designers must think differently, and learners must take more control. 

Best Practice/Case Studies

ITPS Canada – A Focus on the Customer (sponsored by ITPS). The world of flight testing both military and civil, is one which is somewhat set apart from the more mainstream aviation disciplines, yet it is one without which those engaged in the latter would have nothing to fly. The practitioners of these ‘dark arts’ are also something of a breed apart.

Simulation Drives Advancements in Sensor Fusion (sponsored by Unity). Digital twins, simulation, synthetic data, and machine learning are being brought together in a sensor fusion project to enhance US security and military training and operations. 

Discovery, Distribution and Democratisation (sponsored by Unity). XR and other training technologies are lowering the barriers to entry, but how do enterprises ensure wheels are not being reinvented and innovation can be accessible to all? 

Simulating the World, Faster (sponsored by Unity). Updating simulation and operational systems rapidly with the latest terrain data is vital in support of multi-domain operations. With the proliferation of commercial and government sourced data, and more capable networks and AI-driven software, updating systems can now be significantly quicker and less manpower intensive.  

Unreal Engine Integration Made Easy for Simulation Content (sponsored by Epic Games). Sébastien Lozé, Industry Manager, Simulations at Epic Games, explains how simplifying the access to Unreal Engine has led to a spike in simulation applications using its tools.