AFCEA International Chapter News
MONTGOMERY CHAPTER CHAPTER - May 23, 2017

MITS Explores Theme of Accelerating Data-Driven Decisions

In May, the chapter hosted the 24th annual Montgomery Information Technology Summit (MITS) at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center in Montgomery, Alabama. The theme of this year's summit was "Accelerating Data-Driven Decisions." Chapter President Brian Knott and Cynthia Crews, MITS 2017 government liaison and chief of contracting for Business and Enterprise Systems, Maxwell-Gunter Annex, opened the conference, and Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange extended a welcome. The conference featured an assortment of presentations from a variety of speakers, including Richard Aldridge, program executive officer, Business and Enterprise Systems (PEO/BES), Maxwell-Gunter Annex, Alabama; Maj. Gen. Cedric George, USAF, deputy director of resource integration and logistics chief information officer (CIO), Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force; Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess Jr., USA (Ret.), Auburn University's senior counsel for research security and Cyber Initiative; William Marion, deputy chief, information dominance, and deputy CIO; Mokhtar Chaker, vice president of information technology, DHL Supply Chain; Col. John Bedingfield, USAF, C3I Infrastructure Division, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts; Walker Royce, author, consultant and software economist, Silverthread; and Tanya Lambert, deputy director command, control, communications, intelligence and networks (C3I&N), Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Hanscom Air Force Base. MITS also included three panel discussions. The first panel's topic was "Objectives for AF Data-Driven Business Enterprise." Gen. George moderated the panel, which included John Koski, director of information systems and technology for the SAF/FM CIO, and Col. Kjall Gopaul, USAF, deputy director, Air Force Personnel Operations Activity. The second panel's topic was "Data-Driven Technology Solutions." Toy Robinson, BES director of engineering, acted as moderator of the panel including Alison Laporte-Oshiro, IBM Watson Government Solutions; David Williams, Microsoft; Thomas Brazil, chief digital officer, Integrated Computer Solutions Inc.; Jon Mitchell, CEO, Illumination Works; and Aaron Cornfeld, group vice president, Oracle. The third panel discussed "Mining Legacy Systems for Data, Process, Metrics." The moderator was Dr. Joe Besselman, an independent information technology consultant, and the panelists were Dr. Dan Sturtevant, CEO and founder of Silverthread; Dr. Forrest Shull, Software Engineering Institute; and Marc Jones, CAST Software. MITS attendees also were invited to the chapter's annual Education Foundation luncheon. At the luncheon, 12 hard-working students from the River Region were recognized for their achievements with more than $45,000 in scholarships and internship opportunities at local information technology companies.

Event Photographs:

Maj. Gen. Cedric George, USAF, deputy director of resource integration and logistics chief information officer (CIO) (r), moderates a panel that includes John Koski, director of information systems and technology for the SAF/FM CIO (c), and Col. Kjall Gopaul, USAF, deputy director, Air Force Personnel Operations Activity, at May's Montgomery Information Technology Summit (MITS).
Maj. Gen. Cedric George, USAF, deputy director of resource integration and logistics chief information officer (CIO) (r), moderates a panel that includes John Koski, director of information systems and technology for the SAF/FM CIO (c), and Col. Kjall Gopaul, USAF, deputy director, Air Force Personnel Operations Activity, at May's Montgomery Information Technology Summit (MITS).
Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess Jr., USA (Ret.), Auburn University's senior counsel for research security and Cyber Initiative, speaks to MITS attendees in May.
Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess Jr., USA (Ret.), Auburn University's senior counsel for research security and Cyber Initiative, speaks to MITS attendees in May.
Chapter President Brian Knott welcomes attendees to the May summit in Montgomery, Alabama.
Chapter President Brian Knott welcomes attendees to the May summit in Montgomery, Alabama.

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