B2G: Defense Innovation Forum

Please join (four-star) General David Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force as he headlines a Defense Innovation forum with other key officials from the U.S. Army Futures Command, SpaceWERX and AFWERX. Throughout this forum, we’ll discuss Department of Defense’s current efforts to transform our forces to address rising threats from near-peer competitors.

As those competitors are increasing relying on advances in technology, particularly space artificial intelligence and space-based assets and resources, we’ll explore ways that America’s private sector can provide critical solutions to important challenges. 

A native of western Pennsylvania, General Thompson is one of the highest-ranking members in the U.S. Armed Forces (He is one of only 44  four-star generals across all services).

About the Army Futures Command:
Army Futures Command leads a continuous transformation of Army modernization in order to provide future warfighters with the concepts, capabilities and organizational structures they need to dominate a future battlefield.

The establishment of Army Futures Command marks one of the most significant Army reorganization efforts since 1973, when the U.S. Army disestablished the Continental Army Command and Combat Development Command, and redistributed their functions between two new commands, U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command.

With a major and rapidly growing presence in Pittsburgh, AFC is currently headquartered in Austin, Texas, with over 26,000 personnel worldwide working on modernization priorities. We integrate daily with entrepreneurs, scientists, academia, and businesses to employ an entrepreneurial spirit of accepting risks in order to create the best solution for our soldiers, and to keep America strong.

Our soldiers, our people, and our team are the center of our efforts to make the discoveries required to design and field the future force. AFC is soldier centered in its approach, relying on a diverse talent pool ranging from Privates to PhDs. We drive the Army to become a persistently modernizing institution that establishes, maintains, and exploits overmatch to deter and, when necessary, defeat current and future adversaries.

About SpaceWERX:
Headquartered at the Los Angeles AFWERX hub, SpaceWERX inspires and empowers collaboration with innovators to accelerate capabilities and shape our future in space. Major technology trends that affect our national security continue to emerge from private industry, academia, and the government. The U.S. Space Force's competitive advantage is our ability to identify, validate, acquire, and integrate those technologies quickly. Accordingly, SpaceWERX seeks to form collaborative partnerships between the military's operational experts and the top problem solvers in industry, academia, and the government.

About AFWERX:
As the innovation arm of the Department of the Air Force and powered by the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX accelerates agile and affordable capability transitions by teaming innovative technology developers with Airman and Guardian talent. 

The three core arms of AFWERX - AFVentures, Spark and Prime - serve to expand the defense industrial base for advanced technologies, empower Airmen and Guardian talent, and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. 

AFWERX teams internationally across academia, industry and government to dev elop technology, expand talent, and transition dual-use capabilities.

Who: Space Force, Army Futures Command and U.S. Air Force

When: December 2, 2022

Where: Nova Place | Pittsburgh Technology Council, 100 S. Commons, Suite 172, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Speakers:
General David Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations – United States Space Force
Dr. Douglas Matty, Director of Army Artificial Intelligence Capabilities – Army Futures Command
Mr. Phil Hahn, Deputy Director, AFWERX, United States Air Force
Lt. Colonel “Rock” McMillian, Director of SpaceWerx, United States Space Force
Justine Kasznica, Chair – Keystone Space Collaborative
ZOË KARABINUS, Program Director – Keystone Collaborative
Joyce A. Burnett, Space Force Outreach and Engagement, U.S. Air Force (Pentagon)

Sponsor:

Agenda:
7:00am - Registration & Networking 
7:30am – Program begins
8:30am – 9:45 Event Concludes

Registration is closed. Please contact mcolf@pghtech.org to be added to the wait list.