The Safety-Critical Systems Symposium in 2023 (SSS’23) will be held in York, UK, at the Principal York Hotel.

This event comprised three days of presented papers, including keynote presentations, submitted papers and a poster session. There was an evening session with banquet on the Wednesday with an after-dinner talk.

The event brochure is available here.

This event was run in-person at the Principal York hotel (next door to York station).

The Symposium is for all of those in the field of systems safety including engineers, managers, consultants, students, researchers and regulators. It offers wide-ranging coverage of current safety topics, focussed on industrial experience. It includes recent developments in the field and progress reports from the SCSC Working Groups. It takes a cross-sector approach and includes the aerospace, automotive, defence, health, marine, nuclear and rail areas.

The symposium featured:

• Seven keynote presentations and talks on submitted papers;
• Posters from the SCSC Working Groups;
• 'Room 101' entertainment with Roger Rivett, Tom Anderson, Nikita Johnson and Tim Kelly
• A banquet with after-dinner speaker on the Wednesday;
• Proceedings book and working group guidance books;
• Visit to the University of York Institute of Safe Autonomy;
• Special beer designed and commissioned for the symposium;
• Safety Activities;
• Social events in York.

Keynote Speakers

Tom Anderson
Now retired, Tom previously directed the SCSC from 1991 to 2016 within the auspices of Newcastle University, where he was Professor of Computing Science.

Tom Hughes
Chartered Mechanical Engineer and specialist in Nuclear Safety Culture development, employed as the lead for this by EDF on Europe's largest construction project, Hinkley Point C

Gill Kernick
Author and speaker specialising in Safety, Culture and Leadership. Gill is the author of the book "Catastrophe and Systemic Change: Learning from the Grenfell Tower Fire and Other Disasters".

John McDermid
Professor John McDermid OBE FREng is Director of Assuring Autonomy International Programme at the University of York. He is also a Non-Executive Director at the UK Health and Safety Executive.

Catherine Menon
Principal Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. Her research looks at the use of software in safety-critical systems, particularly autonomous systems.

Jamie McFadden
Head of Automated Vehicle Technologies Group at Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) UK.

David Slater
David taught chemical engineering at Imperial, then moved into the Environmental and Major Hazards Consultancy sector, following Flixborough.

For further details on speakers see the event programme 

Exhibitors were: 
 

The symposium is a regular event and fosters a community spirit in the field; it is a great place to network, learn about the latest practice in safety and develop new business contacts.