Atlantic Future Forum 2022

Atlantic Future Forum (AFF) 28/29 Sept '22, New York Harbour.

The AFF was hosted on the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth

As the only consortium of its type in the United Kingdom the National Security and Resilience Consortium were in attendance with leading entrepreneurial and innovative individuals and businesses directly linked to the international defence and security space.

The AFF is convened by the UK Government and is one of the UK’s international leadership events in 2022. The Forum brings together senior politicians, policy makers, military leaders and academia, together with business leaders and entrepreneurs from the United Kingdom, United States and others. The AFF is chaired by Lord Sedwill, the former UK Cabinet Secretary and National Security Adviser.

The Atlantic Future Forum exists to help strengthen the defence, security, technology and trading relationships between democratic nations. Now in its fifth year, AFF22 was hosted in the United States on board the Royal Navy aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The Forum was led by the Department for International Trade (DIT), working alongside the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to strengthen the trade and economic pillars of the Euro-Atlantic alliance and reinforce our security and defence partnerships with like-minded, democratic allies. The AFF is chaired by Lord Sedwill and was co-hosted by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key and HM Ambassador Dame Karen Pierce.

NS&RC members in attendance were Scott Ingham of Matrix Global Services and Nigel Cannings of Intelligent Voice, both world leading companies in their field of expertise and both already active trading partners in the US.

The Right Honourable Kemi Badenoch MP said the following in her opening address on trade between our two countries.

“The UK is pro-ambition, pro entrepreneur, pro-growth and home to top-flight talent fizzing with extraordinary ideas. And we are more determined than ever before to turn the country into the place to come if you want your business to succeed.”

Minister of State (Minister for the Americas and the Overseas Territories)

The Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP

" ... combatting future adversaries is not just about a military response in defence of liberty; it requires collective strength, collective resilience and a collective capacity to innovate in support of the global good, across a whole range of sectors, from vaccines to the next generation of energy sources, among other things. Ladies and gentlemen, the war of the future is the war of hearts and minds as well as weapons. It was ever thus, but it is more so now than ever before. We need to build and maintain that trust – and we will. "