Moderator

Trevor Taylor is Professorial Research Fellow in Defence Management at RUSI, where he heads up a research programme in Defence, Industries and Society, and is a member of the Acquisition Focus group which publishes regularly in RUSI Defence Systems.

In addition, he is professor emeritus at Cranfield University, where he still teaches, and where he was head of the Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis from 1997-2009. He also works regularly for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, where he is an adjunct faculty member.

His career has linked the academic sphere with that of governmental and industrial professionals in defence, and he speaks and writes regularly at conferences on defence acquisition and management. A joint author of a book on UK defence industry, he was for six years an elected Council Member of the former Defence Manufacturers' Association.

He was previously Professor of International Relations at Staffordshire University and from 1990-93 was head of the International Security Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London.  

Panellist

Dr. Fahad Al Yafei is President of the Platforms & Systems cluster, EDGE, an advanced technology group for defence and beyond. In this capacity, he provides strategic direction to the cluster’s entities and oversees its core business functions.

In addition to his role at EDGE, Dr. Al Yafei serves as Chairman of ADSB, AL JASOOR and also carries out his responsibilities as a member of the Board of Directors at Emirates Transport.

Prior to his role as Chairman at AL JASOOR, Dr. Al Yafei held the title of Chief Programs Officer at Tawazun Economic Council, and Chief Executive Officer at NIMR Automotive, where he facilitated the company’s regional and international growth, establishing NIMR as the leading manufacturer of light and medium weight wheeled military vehicles in the Middle East.

Dr. Al Yafei has several publications to his credit in the fields of engineering and technology transfer. He currently sits on the board of the School of Engineering Foundation at Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States.

Dr. Fahad Al Yafei holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He has also earned a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the American University in Dubai, UAE, as well as a master’s degree in Energy Supply Chain Management from Cambridge University, UK, and a Ph.D. from Brunel University, UK.

Panellist

Katadah Zaman has over 18 years of management experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Derasat, Katadah was the first Bahraini Managing Director – Middle East in the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). In his role as MD, he was the senior responsible officer with the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and in charge of policy execution of the Manama Dialogue. His responsibilities for operations of the IISS–Middle East included business development, outreach, events, communications and overseeing all finance, Human Resources, and compliance.

Katadah also worked in the Bahrain Economic Development Board in a number of roles for a variety of programs, including investor relationship, events, protocol and project management. He also worked on the Economic and Labour Market Reforms before shifting to Special Projects where he was responsible for sociopolitical projects, business intelligence and analysis.

Katadah also held key posts in the private sector heading operations, marketing and business development. His roles in the private sector involved responsibility for administration and operations, setting up offices, budgetary oversight, interaction with investors and other key project stakeholders, as well as event organization.

Katadah holds a Bachelors Degree (Hons.) in Aviation Marketing Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida – USA.

Panellist

Pieter D. Wezeman (Netherlands/Sweden) is a Senior Researcher in SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. He has contributed to many SIPRI publications since 1994, including SIPRI’s annual reviews of global trends in arms transfers, arms industry and military expenditure. Among other things, he has published on military expenditure and capabilities in the Middle East, the European defence industry, multilateral arms embargoes and export controls and the relation between arms flows and conflict in Africa. In 2003–2006 he also worked as a Senior Analyst on arms proliferation for the Dutch Ministry of Defence, and in 2017 as a Technical Expert for the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts during a review of the UN Report on Military Expenditure.