Rusmat Ahmed

Rusmat Ahmed, Senior Vice President Sales, EMEA, Bohemia Interactive Simulations

Rusmat joined Bohemia Interactive Simulations, a leading supplier of virtual training software to militaries worldwide, in 2014. Following a military flying career, Rusmat worked in business development, strategy, and bid and project management roles for a large defence company. He ran business units in civil and military avionics, and was project or operations director on large PFI projects. Moving increasingly to customer-facing roles, he was in the flight simulation industry before joining Bohemia. Rusmat has an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in economics from the University of York.

ABSTRACT
Exploiting Gaming Technology for Training

‘Exploiting Gaming Technology for Training’ could be more colloquially named ‘Training in the Xbox Age’. (Other consoles are available!) The talk jumps into gaming history in the 1990s with the introduction of the Sony PlayStation, which was soon followed by the Xbox. These 5th Generation consoles were revolutionary, with proper 3D graphics technology, followed by 6th Generation consoles with networked internet-based business models. The worldwide phenomenon of a generation of gaming youth divided opinion (parents/children). However, visionaries attired both in military uniforms and the casual garb of game developers seized on the potential of commercial gaming technology for the serious business of military training – where in the leading Western and Allied militaries games-based training is now a worldwide norm. With advances in graphics, terrain creation and AI for realistic “human pattern of life”, gaming technology is proven effective and affordable for highly realistic, immersive training/rehearsal and for concept development in fields such as Security, First Responder, and Resilience.