Defense opportunities, elections take center stage

Washington Technology has planned a pair of in-person events to discuss defense opportunities and a explore the aftermath of the 2014 midterm elections.

First up is Defense Opportunities for 2015 and Beyond on Nov. 6. This will be a morning event and will cover three major areas:

• Upcoming contracts and that the Defense Department and the military services are buying and why.
• Evolving defense priorities in light of the pivot to Asia, Russian aggression and the continuing threat of terrorism around globe.
• Strategic initiatives government contractors should be taking to give them the best chance at success.

I’ll be the moderator, and our panel has:

• Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president of public sector for the Information Technology Industry Council
• Kevin Plexico, vice president of information solutions at Deltek
• Duane Andrews, a former assistant secretary of defense and retired CEO of QinetiQ North America.

The event is free to government officials and WT Insider members, and there is a charge of $59 for non-members.

Our second event is a late-afternoon panel discussion on Nov. 18 that we are calling Elections 2014: The Aftermath.

Our panel will discuss the budget, procurement reform, sequestration, and other areas where the new congress will impact issues of importance to government contractors.

Again, I’ll act as the moderator, but the brain trust is our panelists:

• John Hillen, former CEO of Sotera Defense and executive in residence and professor of practice at George Mason University School of Business.
• Jason Kaufman, principal at the Chertoff Group.
• Stan Soloway, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, and a Washington Technology columnist.

Because this Nov. 18 event kicks off with registration at 4:30 p.m., drinks will be served. The event wraps up by 6:30. We expect the panel to last about an hour, so there should be plenty of opportunity for networking and further discussion.

The event is free for government officials and WT Insider members, and there is a charge of $42 for non-members.

Both of these panels discussions are right on target for today’s market and will offer insights you won’t find elsewhere. They will also hopefully give you an opportunity to network and discuss the issues with peers and colleagues.

Internally, we also are brainstorming topics for in-person events for next year so share your ideas with me. [nwakeman@washingtontechnology.com] There are no unwelcome suggestions.