Weekly Roundup
Aug 3 – Aug 7 2015

Two of the Defense Department’s top civilian leaders traveled to Silicon Valley this week for discussions with a new arm of the Pentagon started earlier this year to facilitate more collaborations between DoD and companies in the region.

DoD launched the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental hub to act as a pathway for the department to gain more access to start-up companies, other technology firms and entrepreneurs.

“Innovation in… big data, analytics, autonomy and robotics is going on in [Silicon Valley] and we want to tap into it, ” said Robert Work, deputy defense secretary.

Work, DoD acquisition head Frank Kendall, DIUx Director George Duchak and military deputy Navy Rear Adm. Brian Hendrickson met to discuss the organization’s efforts.

Pentagon Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen paid his own visit to Silicon Valley earlier this year and described his biggest takeaway from that trip in his address to the Potomac Officers Club Thursday as part of the POC’s “CIO Speaker Series.”

Halvorsen also gave the audience of GovCon and government leaders his perspective on ways the industry and agencies can temporarily share employees in an effort to help both the public and private sectors better understand each other.

Click here to read GovCon Wire’s full recap of the event.

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The Potomac Officers Club is excited to host Transportation Department CIO Richard McKinney on Aug. 20 for the POC’s next event in its “CIO Speaker Series” for GovCon and government leaders at the helm of technology-related initiatives.

Army acquisition chief Heidi Shyu will address the POC on Sept. 2 and the General Services Administration’s Chris Hamm is scheduled to speak on Sept. 24.

Additionally, we are excited to announce that Navy Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, has been lined up to address the POC Oct. 15 for the 2015 Cybersecurity Summit.

Click here to sign up for these events and view POC’s full calendar.

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