AFA to host local-area Cyber Workshop in September

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  Key Air Force, industry and academic leaders will converge at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on Sept. 22 and 23, when the Air Force Association's Paul Revere Chapter holds its Cyber Workshop 2015, the first of a series of planned annual cyber events.

The workshop will feature a series of panels focused on six key cyber elements: cyber offense, operational innovation, resiliency, threat-based defense, situation awareness and partnerships/sharing. Panelists are expected to engage fully not just with one another, but with audience members who will be engaged via polling technology.

To support the workshop's intent to bring leading edge thought to the cyber domain, organizers have sponsored a white paper, innovation-demonstration and poster challenge with several local colleges and universities. Winning submitters will have the opportunity to be seated on the panels.

The event's overarching goal is 'to foster government/industry/academia collaboration to achieve superior offensive/defensive capability against strategic cyber threats by 2030.'

"There are numerous entities with a laser focus on cybersecurity, and the workshop is a fantastic opportunity for all of us to learn about the great work that each is doing by sharing information and experiences," said Joe Carriere, the Chapter's vice president for Strategic Cyber & C2ISR Initiatives.

"Our Chapter's strategic intent in this series of workshops is to bring the richness of this region's academic and industrial base together to serve as the Air Force's breeding ground for cyber mission exploration and refinement," he added. "We'll keenly focus on the elements of technology, policy and workforce in the near-, mid- and long-term in order to continuously hone the Air Force's Cyber Vision."

Senior Air Force officials participating include: Lt. Gen. William J. "Bill" Bender, the Air Force chief of Information Dominance and chief information officer, Dr. Greg Zacharias, the AF's new chief scientist, Rich Lombardi, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Maj. Gen. Burke "Ed" Wilson, commander of 24th Air Force, and Dr. Tim Rudolph, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center chief technology officer.

Many others are expected to join, as well, including retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula from AFA's Mitchell Institute. Deptula, a leader and pioneer in conceptualizing, planning and executing security operations, will moderate a panel on the newly published realm of offensive operations.

Registration will soon be open via the Chapter's website at: http://www.paulrevereafa.org/afa-cyber-workshop-2015/ and the event is expected to sell out quickly, according to organizers.