Aerospace Global News Theatre 1 – Tuesday 21st July 2026

10:00 – 10:50 – AGN Session

Panel: Aerospace Excellence™ – Gaining Global Momentum

Moderated by: Chris Bockman

Launched at FIA 2024, Aero Excellence™ International is the industry-backed initiative created to establish a universal standard of operational excellence, sustainability, and cybersecurity for the aerospace, defence, and space supply chain. It has rapidly expanded across more than 20 countries, including the UK, France, and Germany and, more recently, the US and Spain.
In this session you will learn how Aero Excellence is adding tangible value across supply chain networks and understand the strategic and operational benefits of becoming involved in a more aligned and mature global aerospace ecosystem.

11:00 – 11:10 – AGN Session

Keynote: Decarbonising Aerospace: Innovation, Regulation and Collaboration for Net Zero

Osman Kocini, Consultant, Sustainable Futures, Capgemini

Aerospace remains one of the world’s hardest sectors to decarbonise, balancing ambitious net-zero targets with safety-critical operations, long asset lifecycles and complex global supply chains. In this session, Osman Kocini explores how innovation, regulation and collaboration can accelerate the industry’s transition to a more sustainable future. The session will highlight practical examples of how Capgemini helps organisations implement net zero pathways. From sustainable operations and smart airport environments to supply chain traceability, green IT, asset electrification, and data driven emissions monitoring. Together, these approaches show how innovation, market mechanisms and cross sector partnerships can accelerate the transition to a more sustainable aerospace future.

11:15 – 11:55 – AGN Session

Panel: Which Propulsion Technologies Will Actually Scale?

Andy Jefferson, Director, A & G Jefferson
Harry Armstrong, Head of Sustainability CSP, Civil Aviation Authority
Cyril Garcia, Global Head of Sustainability Services, Capgemini
Jean-Christophe Lambert, CEO, Ascendance

Hydrogen. Hybrid-electric. Next-generation turbines. Aviation is awash with competing visions for lower-emission flight — but which of them are genuinely on a path to scale, and which remain long on promise but short on commercial viability? This session will cut through the hype to examine which propulsion technologies are most likely to succeed, what infrastructure they will demand, and how economics, certification and regulation will ultimately separate the credible from the aspirational.
The conversation will also widen the lens beyond propulsion alone. As scrutiny grows around aviation’s full climate impact, the panel will explore how non-CO₂ effects, including contrails, are reshaping the decarbonisation debate and challenging the industry to think more holistically about technology, operations and climate mitigation. Bringing together perspectives from technology, sustainability and regulation, this discussion will ask a hard but necessary question: what will it really take for lower-emission flight to move from prototype to practical reality?

12:00 – 12:50 – AGN Session sponsored by EY

Panel: Powering the Global A&D Supply Ecosystem

Raman Ram, Americas Aerospace, Defence & Mobility Leader, EY
William Ampofo II, Vice President, Parts & Distribution and Supply Chain, Boeing

Aerospace and defense is on the brink of unprecedented growth, but supply chains are struggling to keep pace. With backlogs mounting and production demands surging, organizations must rapidly transform how they operate. This session highlights how digital twins, control towers and predictive insights can unlock real-time visibility, accelerate decision-making and build resilient, high-performing supply ecosystems. Discover how leading organizations are reimagining supply chains to deliver at scale.

13:00 – 13:50 – AGN Session

Panel: Fostering UK Innovation in Autonomous Aviation: Insights from Today’s BVLOS Operations to Scale Tomorrow

Moderator: Quentin Browell, Senior Director, Inline Policy
Colin Chesterton, Head of Airspace Modernisation Delivery, UK Civil Aviation Authority
Margaret Nagle, Chief Aviation Officer, Wing
Louisa Smith, Chief Aviation Officer, Apian
Tim Murrell, Drone & Robotics Lead, National Fire Chiefs Council
Sofia Stayte, Head of Aviation Skills and Future of Flight, Department for Transport

While the UK has successfully demonstrated the economic opportunity as well as life-saving potential of BVLOS flight through recent trials, operations continue to rely on limited, segregated airspace as regulations progress through consultations and collaborative forums. To achieve the true benefits of scaled operations, efforts are ongoing to shape national policy on Electronic Conspicuity (EC) as well as uncrewed traffic management (UTM) and the next steps in complex airspace and operational approvals. By distilling lessons and perspectives from commercial, medical, and public safety operators, the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Department for Transport Future of Flight team, this panel will discuss critical needs to advance the UK’s position as a global leader in autonomous aviation and unlock the benefits of drone operations within the nation.

14:00 – 14:50 – AGF Defence Summit

Panel: Drone & Counter‑Drone Warfare: Lessons from Ukraine to the Middle East

Martin Sklenár, Distinguished Fellow, Future of Security Programme, GLOBSEC
Iryna Terekh, CEO & CTO, Fire Point
Rory Chamberlain, UK Managing Director, Ukrspecsystems
Paul Lemmo, Vice President and General Manager, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems (RMS) Sensors, Effectors & Mission Systems (SEMS)

Conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East are redefining modern warfare in real time. Drones have moved from peripheral assets to the centre of strategy, logistics and deterrence. This panel weaves together operational threads to deliver a rare, integrated view of the global drone ecosystem, and the countermeasures required to keep pace. Bringing together frontline commanders and leading technical innovators, the discussion offers direct insight from those shaping and responding to this new era of warfare.

16:00 – 16:50 – AGN Session Sponsored by Hogan Lovells

Panel: Building trust in Global Supply Chain

Resilient supply chains depend not only on capacity, but on confidence. This session focuses on the legal frameworks, ethical standards and collaborative practices needed to strengthen trust across complex global supplier relationships, particularly where security, transparency and reputational exposure are becoming more commercially significant.