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CMMC-AB Chairman Karlton Johnson Featured as Keynote Speaker During Potomac Officers Club’s 2021 CMMC Forum

This past Wednesday, Potomac Officers Club (POC) hosted its 2021 CMMC Forum to provide the government contracting (GovCon) and federal sector’s members his overview and vision of the CMMC Rollout as well as the top priorities for the board and how industry feedback will help to improve the vision behind how the organization develops for the first 100 days. 

In order to provide a first-hand accounting of the latest developments and changes, CMMC Accreditation Body (AB) Chairman Karlton Johnson was featured as the keynote speaker during the event. 

If you missed the 2021 CMMC Forum, you can still access the OnDemand footage by visiting the Potomac Officers Club Event Archive.

Following a brief introduction from Kristie Grinnell, vice president of Information Technology, Supply Chain and the global chief information officer with General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), Karlton Johnson took the platform to begin his can’t miss keynote address for the virtual audience. 

Johnson welcomed everyone to the Forum and began presenting the basic rundown of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) organization, its authority and the start of the authorization process to the current day. 

Most notably, Johnson made it clear that CMMC is an independent organization charged by the Department of Defense (DOD), CMMC is not a policy-making organization or directly under the DOD umbrella, to manage and provide accreditation and licensing for the CMMC ecosystem and its marketplace. 

As he continued to set the stage, Johnson spoke about the very beginning of how CMMC was developed and all the many participants, including those on the CMMC Accreditation Body (CMMC-AB) and in the CMMC community, who helped push it forward from its inception in Jan. 2020 to today. 

“From the very beginning, CMMC was founded on strong ethics, a solid foundation and moral compass as well as a specific focus on serving our nation as a whole,” he emphasized. 

Karlton Johnson provided an extensive breakdown of the specific CMMC-AB responsibilities, DOD’s role in the model and an explanation of how to assess risk while cybersecurity continues to influence the federal sector and cyber attacks continue to jeopardize business integrity today. 

Visit the Potomac Officers Club Event Archive to hear the full keynote address from CMMC AB Chairman Karlton Johnson and learn more about how CMMC is addressing industry’s concerns, the importance of cyber hygiene and clean data as well a full panel discussion moderated by Michael Baker, staff vice president and chief information security officer at GDIT following Johnson’s keynote address. 

Karlton Johnson also joined Ron Lear of ISACA-CMMI Institute, Jeffery Miller of Accenture Federal Services and Armando Seay of Maryland Innovation and Security Institute for the full expert panel after his keynote address to continue the conversation and provide a full-scope look into the impact CMMC is having on our community and how it will develop in the future.

Join Potomac Officers Club for the upcoming Trusted Workforce Forum on June 30th, featuring William Lietzau, director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), as the keynote speaker. 

He will discuss his first 100 days at DCSA, vision for developing a secure, trusted workforce, upcoming major initiatives and how private industry can help secure our national security.

Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com to register for the Trusted Workforce Forum on June 30th.

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