Shaping The Future of The Defence Sector at DSEI 2023

DSEI 2023 was unprecedented in every way. The attendance figures were the best in the event’s 24-year history, with numbers up 23% over the previous pre-pandemic record set in 2019. With more than 250 suppliers exhibiting for the first time, the extended TOUGHBOOK team had a jam-packed four days of engaging with industry leaders and decision makers, and continuously learning about the exciting and innovative technology in the market.

Connection and Collaboration The Name of the Game

Of course, my team was largely focused on meeting with our existing partners and customers, as well as prospects, showcasing our latest state-of-the-art military solutions. Unlike many trade events, it also provided a fantastic opportunity to get 1-on-1 with those from our systems integrator partners, and end-users; the latter providing us with real insight into the real use cases that Panasonic TOUGHBOOK solutions are being deployed in.

The ability to have face-to-face conversations with those stakeholders that we had been speaking to throughout the year was invaluable. As one of the industry’s biggest events, the opportunity to sit down with customers was not one to be passed up; with the entire defence technology sector’s year geared towards DSEI, the event was a valuable forum for Panasonic’s team to develop stronger customer relationships, and advise them on the particular projects they are working on.

Seeing is believing, as they say, and many customers went away realising that TOUGHBOOK could customise its technology to meet their requirements, without having to reinvent the wheel. The ability for us to integrate our technology into their existing solutions was a very powerful message for customers and prospects at DSEI. 

Navigating supply-chains throughout the defence technology landscape can be challenging at times, with varying layers and stakeholders, so the opportunity to facilitate direct customer engagement was of great value to Panasonic, partners and end-users.

The overall engagement on the Panasonic TOUGHBOOK stand was fantastic. Meetings were being booked on a non-stop basis, and stand visits were visibly as high as they have ever been – you couldn’t move for the visitors engaging around our latest technology.