The AFCEA DC Emerging Technologies Symposium was created at the request of many of our government AFCEA members, and the Small Business community.  The conference will provide military and civilian government officials with an ethical public forum in which they can rapidly learn about a plethora of new technologies.  We will focus on advances with the potential to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and help our Military and Federal Government officials with the mission to protect at home and abroad.  AFCEA DC encourages military and government personnel to come out and view demonstrations of emerging technologies on-stage, and live in our exhibit hall.

The event will be a blend of the best features taken from AFCEA DC's other successful symposia (in which military & government executives convey requirements and challenges), and popular East and West coast venture capital forums (that highlight growing innovative companies that need partners and advice on bringing their products to market).  Military & government keynotes, CTO & acquisition expert panels, rapid-fire industry presentations, and industry exhibits of Emerging Tech will all be features of the Symposium.

Because so much technology/IT innovation occurs in small businesses, the Emerging Tech Symposium will have an emphasis on ensuring small-to-medium-sized firms have an opportunity to showcase their potential.  And, it will create a strategic networking forum for large prime and smaller businesses, M&A firms, and venture capitalists – who partner to advance the pace of innovation available to the Federal Government, while maintaining solid business practices.

We will have a competitive, vendor-neutral process for determining the industry firms that will participate/present, and the focus will be topics that our mil/gov partners have told us represent their most pressing challenges:

Cybersecurity     |     Mobile     |     Cloud Computing     |     Analytics/Big Data     |     Collaboration

While we believe many submissions will fit into one of these five subcategories, these themes will in no way limit the types of proposals that we receive.  Any firm, of any size, which has a new innovative technology that will help the Military, DHS, IC or Civilian Federal Government, is welcome to apply.  The more innovative and impactful the solution, the more likely that you will be selected to present.

The Symposium will feature keynotes and panel discussions by military and security/intel officials in the Advance Research organizations & CTO roles, and provide numerous live technology demonstrations by industry in a public exhibit area. We also hope to feature a discussion of acquisition strategies and reform ideas that enable the Military and Federal Government to speed up the rate at which new tech advances are evaluated and acquired/obtained, and tips to help small innovative companies who want to introduce their products or services to the Mil/Gov market.

Planned keynotes from senior leaders and innovation advocates within DoD, DISA, DHS, and the IC include:

• Hon. Tara O'Toole, PhD, Under Secretary for Science & Technology, DHS 
• Dr. Reginald Brothers, PhD, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research (DASD (R))
• Mr. Gus Hunt, CTO, U.S. Central Intellgence Agency (CIA)
  
• RADM David G. Simpson, USN, Vice Director, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) 
• Mr. Mike Krieger, Deputy CIO/G-6, U.S. Army
  
  

The 1st Annual AFCEA DC Emerging Technologies Symposium builds upon the success of AFCEA DC’s Mobile Symposium (going into its 2nd year in April), as well as our Cybersecurity Symposium (now going into its 4th year).  We expect attendance at the Emerging Tech conference to be a full-house of 500+ attendees - a diverse crowd of decision-makers, SMEs, and management/growth experts:

• Professionals from Government, Industry, and Academia in the technology and information technology space;
• CTOs, heads of R&D, and executives from Advanced Research Organizations in the Federal Government;
• CTOs and advanced research leads from the private sector, FFRDCs, and nonprofit research institutes
• SMEs in Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Mobile Technologies; Analytics/Big Data, and Collaboration;
• CXO level executives of small to medium-sized businesses, and Industry VPs of Public sector and Armed Services account managers
• Project managers and program leads in government and industry;
• Business development, sales and marketing executives
• Technical leads and technical SMEs in Government & Industry
• Merger & Acquisition executives from various firms and banks
• Venture capitalists, strategic advisors, bankers, lawyers and accounting firms that can small businesses grow and bring innovative products and services to market
• Commanding Officers, PEOs, and staff from various organizations within DoD, DHS & the Intel community that are heavy users and managers of technology & information technology;
• Acquisition officers in government, and acquisition reform advocates who are retired government or consultants;
• Lots and lots of inventors and innovators from small businesses that are working on the bleeding edge of technology/IT;
  
• AFCEA Members and Non-members; AFCEA DC alone has approximately 3,000 members and 6,000 nonmember affiliates
  
  

 In a time of austerity and changing priorities for Military and Federal Government, we must...

1. Maintain a strong commitment to finding the most advanced and innovative technologies available to our Services, Combat Support Agencies, Warfighters, Homeland Security, & Intel Officers – to further extend their mission to protect, defend, strike, and disarm our enemies
2. Continue to embrace small companies - where innovation most often occurs - and preserve a seat at the table for them by removing roadblocks and barriers to entry, while ensuring they can deliver the level of sustained service and security required by DoD.  We must seek out and procure systems, software, networks, and services that have the potential to improve efficiency, and cut costs;
3. Refuse to lose ground against the enemy, for we do not know from whence the next set of threats will arise, be they traditional state actors, or those of an increasing asymmetric nature, but we do know they often have access to the full power of the commercial sector; and,
4. Increase our commitment to STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math & Medical)... It's a Matter of preserving our National Security and our National Economy.
   

We hope you can join us for the conversation and showcases on February 21, at the Capital Hilton, Washington, DC.

AFCEA DC is the oldest and most well-established Chapter in the AFCEA International family, with approximately 3,000 members, and 6,000 nonmember associates and friends in industry, government, & academia.  We work to educate and marshal the local federal and contractor community to achieve a stronger, more cohesive team in the National Capital Region.

AFCEA International is a worldwide nonprofit professional association founded as the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association; but it encompasses more than just the military.  AFCEA represents the top government, industry, and military professionals in the fields of communications, electronics, intelligence, software, information systems, imaging, and multi-media.  AFCEA's purpose is to support global security by providing an ethical environment that encourages a close cooperative relationship among the military, civilian government agencies, and private industry.