Description: 
Ensuring your Digital Journey is Future-Fit Recent news in Manchester heralding bus reform was welcomed by commuters hoping for better services and cheaper fares. While a significant moment for public transport, we continue to see dynamic change in the wider Transport sector in general. Ridership behaviours are shifting, revenue models through local authorities are evolving and the concept of integrated travel is coming in. Passenger needs in terms of convenience, affordability, availability, safety and security remain, with sustainability the new addition. Join us and your senior leader peers from the Travel and Transport industry in Finance, Operations, Sales and Marketing, and HR to hear from industry thought leaders on key trends, discuss customer challenges and learn how technology including cloud, AI and IoT can help organisations remain competitive and enable a rich customer experience When: 25 January 2024, 10:00 - 14:00 Where: Oracle, 5th Floor The Helicon, One South Place, London. EC2M 2RB Agenda:
- 09.30 – 10.00 Registration
- 10.00 – 10.05 Welcome and intro
- 10.05 – 10.50 Industry trends – panel with Austin Birks & counterparts in Rail/Aviation/Maritime
- 10.50 – 11.20 Customer case study: Mark Anderson, Customer and Commercial Director at Go-Ahead – moderated by Tim Deakin, Editor RouteOne
- 11.20 – 11.40 Coffee break
- 11.40 – 12.10 Customer challenges and potential solutions
- 12.10 – 12.50 Sector-specific peer-to-peer roundtables
- 12.50 – 2.00 Networking lunch and close
Mark Anderson, Customer and Commercial Director at Go-Ahead 
Mark Anderson is Customer and Commercial Director at global passenger transport operator Go-Ahead Group, with a remit spanning marketing, communications, customer experience, sustainability and innovation across bus and rail companies on three continents.
He has worked within Go-Ahead for nine years, having joined as Head of Marketing in the Rail Division and spent time on secondment to Japan and Norway before taking a role as part of the group’s leadership team. He works across diverse strategic areas from climate change and future mobility to capturing the voice of the customer and his initiatives have included leading the Billion Journey Project, one of the UKs largest transport innovation programmes. He is a non-executive director of Go To Places, a not-for-profit body in the tourism sector.
Prior to entering the transport industry, he worked in the retail, leisure and hospitality industries including holding senior roles at LEGOLAND Windsor and at Warwick Castle. He is passionate about developing growth strategies aligned to customer insight and challenging the status quo to deliver elevated customer experiences. Austin Birks , Chairman, Bus & Coach Forum, CILT 
Austin Birks started his career in November 1983 when he joined the National Bus Company Senior Management Training scheme, he was part of a management buy-out at the age of 26, and went on to become one of the earliest members of First Group, after various management roles including Depot Manager, Commercial Manager, and other senior management roles within First Bus group, he moved onto a group-wide recruitment position.
In 2003, when appointed Senior Manager Strategic Recruitment for First Group PLC, he started a recruitment project in Poland to recruit bus drivers to work for First Bus in the UK. This involved teaching the drivers English and building a bespoke boot camp with 3 UK buses based in Poland, eventually more than 3,000 employees were recruited to join First. In 2006 the project was adopted as Best Practise across the EU, and Austin was given a special award by the EU, in recognition of the Innovation.
Austin became chair of the Bus and Coach Forum of CILT in 2008, and is chair of Busmark, the CILT benchmarking club which today has 49 members and a combined fleet of 28,500 buses and coaches. In December 2022 CILT presented Austin with the Meritorious award for outstanding service to the Institute.
Austin is the CEO of the Veritahr Group Poland/UK, and is a non-executive director of uTrack Software Solutions, a multi award-winning cloud-based technology company serving the bus and coach sector worldwide. In his spare time, he is 6th dan black belt of Shotokan Karate and runs his own club, and is an enthusiastic cancer patient battling level 4A Bowel cancer having had almost 100 chemotherapy treatments.
Tim Deakin, Editor, Routeone 
Tim is Editor of Routeone, the leading trade title for coach and bus. Having begun his career in the sector at 18 with bus operator First Potteries, he later spent almost 10 years in the road haulage industry before a period of study led to him becoming a journalist in 2013.
Tim has been Editor of Routeone in 2018 and has now spent almost 10 years with the publication. Ably assisted by a capable team, he has led the editorial transition of the title from one built largely around print into a multiformat outlet that maintains an ever-growing web presence. Tim also co-presents the annual Routeone Awards, which are widely recognised as the coach and bus industry’s Oscars.
Vikram Singla, Oracle 
Vikram is digital transformation director and sustainability ambassador at Oracle, UK. He helps business leaders leverage technology and data to deliver meaningful outcomes for their organisations. He also serves on the board of CILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport) – UK and is an advisory board member at Cranfield University’s supply chain management research centre.
He is currently responsible for defining and executing the go-to-market strategy for supply chain cloud solutions across all industries and manufacturing/asset-intensive sectors across all cloud applications, in the UK. He has over 25 years’ experience in the technology sector, including deploying business transformation programmes for Fortune 500 firms. Vikram has an MBA from Warwick Business School and graduated from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Delhi, India. Beyond the day job, Vikram is a brand ambassador for Cancer Research, and loves music/sports.
Booking for Members - FREE
Click 'Book now' online to book, if you have any difficulties email us at regions@ciltuk.org.uk quoting event code: COR0403
Booking for Non-Members - £5.00 inc. VAT Email regions@ciltuk.org.uk with a completed booking form
Note: If you are not a current Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, please be aware our membership team may be in touch with you using your email address provided regards membership opportunities. If you do not wish to be contacted please email and let us know at regions@ciltuk.org.uk 
Competency sets:
• SUS1.1 Social, Economic and Environmental Resilience of the Supply Chain • PAS1.1 Passenger Movement Principles • PAS1.2 Modes, Modal Choice and Transport Integration • PAS2.1 Passenger Movement Costing, Pricing, Obligations and Subsidies • LE2.1 Customer Service and Relationship Management |