Summit Centers On 'Breaking the IT Cost Curve'

In May, the chapter hosted its annual Montgomery Information Technology Summit (MITS) at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Montgomery, Alabama. The event drew a record number of attendees, surpassing 840 conference registrants. This year's summit featured various speakers discussing the topic "Breaking the IT Cost Curve—Creating a New Paradigm." The conference kicked off with a welcome by Chapter President Eric Sloan and Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange. Following were presentations by Robert Shofner, program executive officer, Business and Enterprise Systems (BES); Dr. Tim Rudolph, chief technical officer, Air Force Integrated Information Capabilities, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC); and Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast, USAF, commander and president, Air University, among others. Ralph DiCicco, deputy acquisition chief information officer, Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition), moderated a panel on the topic "Changing the USAF Paradigm to Mobile First," which featured the following industry speakers: Nathan Golan, IBM; Bryan Coapstick, Hewlett-Packard; and David Vangeison, Dassault. Additional conference speakers included Dr. William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition); Lt. Gen. John Thompson, USAF, commander, AFLCMC; and Herbert Hunter, director, Enterprise Service Division, Program Executive Office, BES. A panel spotlighting the topic "Application Migration to the Clouds" featured moderator Toy Robinson, director of engineering, PEO/BES, and included Stacy Waldrep, eSA; Jim Menard, Accenture; Matt Zager, Red Hat; Mark Southard, Isobar; and Dave Zukowski, IPT Associates. MITS attendees also were invited to the chapter's annual Education Foundation Luncheon. At the luncheon, nine hard-working students from the River Region were recognized for their achievements with more than $30,000 in scholarships and internship opportunities with Iocal information technology companies.

Event Photographs: