The chapter sponsored the third annual TechNet Conference and Exposition in January. The program's theme was "Importance of Government and Industry Cooperation." The event aimed at strengthening the U.S. and Japanese alliance while providing a forum to discuss technologies and to explore interoperability issues that can help streamline critical information sharing. Robert Lentz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Information and Identity Assurance, served as a guest speaker. He discussed cyberdefense challenges and U.S. Defense Department initiatives to mitigate cyberattacks. Brig. Gen. Ronald Bouchard, USA, director, Command, Control and Communications Systems/J-6, U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), shared PACOM strategic goals and how coalition information sharing and information security systems help achieve these goals. Lt. Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr., USAF, commander, U.S. Forces Japan, and commander, 5th Air Force Base, Yokota Air Base, Japan, highlighted the importance of information sharing in a bilateral/coalition environment and the operational readiness of the alliance. James Zumwalt, deputy chief of missions, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, Japan, and Andy Purdy, co-director, Information Cyber Center, George Mason University, also served as guest speakers. The event also featured four panel discussions. Topics included communications supporting anti-piracy; humanitarian assistance/disaster relief command, control, computers and communications cooperation; the importance of industry and government cooperation; and training and education requirements from industry and government perspectives. Speakers on each panel were industry and government officials from leading institutions in the command, control, computers, communications and intelligence area.