The chapter hosted its annual Industry Days event at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, November 3-5, 2021. The theme of this year's event was Data: The Ammunition of Digital Modernization. This year's hybrid event allowed simultaneous in-person and remote viewing. More than 900 participating attendees would agree that the event was a huge success!
"This event brings together the contracting community and the government customer, so they can hear directly from one another," noted Jim Evans, chapter president.
"It's very important for government and industry to understand current and future needs to work together on solutions that benefit our warfighters," added Bill Jones, past chapter president.
A roster of more than 85 speakers provided briefings and panel discussions covering program updates, contracting opportunities, evolving requirements and program-specific challenges. Joining the agenda this year were Rich Aldridge, program executive officer (PEO) for the Business and Enterprise Systems Directorate; Ross Guckert, PEO for Enterprise Information Systems; Les Hubbard, PEO for Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions; and Adarryl Roberts, PEO for the Defense Logistics Agency.
Distinguished keynote speakers and special guests also included Lt. Gen. John Morrison Jr., USA, deputy chief of staff, G-6; Maj. Gen. Garrett Yee, USA, assistant to the director, Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA); Raj Iyer, chief information officer (CIO) in the Office of the Secretary of the Army; and Lt. Gen. Michael S. Groen, USMC, director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC).
"We appreciate all of our presenters and sincerely thank them for taking time to brief our community. The importance of this event goes beyond information sharing. One of our core goals is to support education within our service community. To that end, proceeds from AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days funds our STEM scholarship program. Since 2005, the AFCEA Belvoir Scholarship program has awarded over $1,200,000 to deserving students and schools in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area," Evans proudly said. "The success of our STEM scholarship program is a great source of pride for our chapter and its members."
Corporate sponsors and exhibitors brought the 'wow' factor. More than 90 companies set up exhibits in the exhibit hall and online. World Wide Technology, Wildflower, Iron Bow, AT&T, HPE, IDTech, Affigent, Verizon, Sail Point, Palo Alto, Software AG, Sealing Tech, Crowdstrike, Avaya, Forward Networks, GDIT, Rubrik, Presidio, GovPlace, Intelligent Waves, DRS, Accenture, NTT Data, Carahsoft and many more were on hand demonstrating the latest technologies to support U.S. Army programs and missions.
Fort Belvoir is home to more than 90 diverse tenant and satellite organizations. It provides services to over 215,000 military and civilian retirees and families. Each year, PEOs from across Fort Belvoir convene at AFCEA Belvoir Industry Days to brief the industry contracting community on program updates, new or evolving contracting opportunities, and current and future requirements and challenges.
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