S&T will moderate  two panels at the upcoming DHS Strategic Industry Conversation. This event will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2016 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Unlike a typical ‘industry day’ covering  specific procurements or components within DHS, the Strategic Industry Conversation will provide a venue to discuss program‑specific topics that span multiple Components and impact the DHS Unity of Effort initiative.  Key topics will include biometrics, cybersecurity, and how research and development drive innovation in the federal space. Please see the draft agenda for more information.

Here is a link to an article about last year’s successful event.

Here is a link to the FBO.gov notice about the event.

Registration opens on September 30, 2016 and will close after 600 participants have registered.  In order to maximize the benefit to the greatest number of companies, no more than three individuals from a single corporate entity may register for the event, and all three (or fewer) names must be registered at the same time, on the same registration application.  Nine individual breakout sessions are planned for the event with a maximum capacity of no more than 200 participants per breakout session.  We request that no more than one representative from each company attend the same breakout session.  Depending on the pace of registration requests, DHS cannot guarantee that all participants will be able to attend their breakout sessions of choice.

The registered industry participants will receive a confirmation email including the sessions for which they will be admitted.  Only individuals with confirmed registration messages will be admitted to the event’s plenary session or appropriate breakout sessions.  Participants must bring a copy of their registration confirmation message or risk not being admitted.  We expect to have registration confirmation messages sent no later than October 14, 2016.

S&T’s panels include:

Non-Traditional Partners, Driving Innovation, 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  EDT
Panelists will discuss the Silicon Valley Innovation Program and how it has promoted competition among non-traditional Government contractors through simplified procurement processes and other methods for engaging the start-up community to address homeland security technology gaps.   Douglas Maughan, Director of S&T's Cyber Security Division and Senior Executive for S&T's Silicon Valley Innovation Program will moderate.

Research and Development: How to Drive Innovation, 2 – 3:15 p.m. EDT
Panelists will discuss the strategic direction of DHS’s Research & Development ecosystem and how industry is engaged in technology priority areas. Joseph Martin, S&T's Director of Research and Development Partnerships will moderate.

Please register by completing the application here.