I/ITSEC 2018 is underway and has already demonstrated a promising exchange of information among industry, the military, and the educational communities. From the keynote addresses, to the exhibit hall and demonstrations, the event has been full of discussions about preparing the warfighter to train as they fight on the battlefield. Here is what we’ve heard from the floor at the Orlando Convention Center.
A Call for Collaboration and New Technologies:
Attending events like I/ITSEC gives military training leaders the opportunity to see what is possible. During the morning session panels, many military leaders encouraged industry to bring them the latest technologies, even if it’s still currently a work in progress. They simply need to know what is available, what is possible, and how it can help the military meet its training goals. The Navy, in particular, discussed the need for speed and innovation to outpace adversaries and work toward providing its fleet with the capabilities required to meet future challenges.
Our latest dispatch from the #IITSEC2018 conference: Navy pushes live, virtual, constructive training | Story by @ConnieLee_ https://t.co/G0w6u7NEHy @iitsec pic.twitter.com/GkorcZpIfk
— National Defense (@NationalDefense) November 27, 2018
ADM Chris Grady (@USFleetForces) – The nature of warfare is changing, and consequently, we must also adapt to continue to out-think, out-maneuver, our-partner, and out-innovate our adversaries. #IITSEC pic.twitter.com/cBcf0NYeau
— Sae Schatz (@SaeSchatz) November 27, 2018
Industry keynote speaker, Stanley Deal, Executive Vice President of The Boeing Company and President and Chief Executive Officer of Boeing Global Services, issued a call to action to the audience in the morning keynote on Day 2. He focused on collaboration between industry, academia, and government and the importance of investing wisely and emphatically in technologies that can help better prepare the warfighter.
“How can we learn together today while transforming how we learn together tomorrow?” – Stanley Deal of @Boeing during his industry keynote at #iitsec. Finding that overlap will push the defense community forward. #iitsec2018 pic.twitter.com/Pms6Uj0Fpq
— Chelsea Barone (@chelsbarone) November 27, 2018
Innovations on the Show Floor:
Exhibitors showcased new innovations and technologies to help prepare the warfighter with capabilities ranging from interoperable and secure networks to the latest in augmented and virtual reality offerings. We caught up with Chip Gilkison, Business Development for Live Blended Test and Training for Collins Aerospace to talk about the importance of cross domain training. “The warfighter certainly can’t train against next-generation threats using previous generation technology,” he told us. “We don’t have the time or budget to train for tomorrow with what we have today. Linking live and synthetic participants and enabling them to train together using real aircraft systems will be that force multiplier.” Read more from Gilkison here.
NEWS FROM #IITSEC: Our new SecureOne™ User-defined Cross Domain Guard enables secure data transfer between networks with different security classifications. https://t.co/EJhUD8DLQj pic.twitter.com/weTbChJ5LR
— Collins Aerospace (@CollinsAero) November 26, 2018
Bob Williams, Vice President of Global Training Solutions for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, was featured in the IITSEC Show Daily discussing the growing desire to bring commercial technologies and capabilities into the synthetic training environments. “There is a great desire to bring forward the technologies available in the synthetic arena and embed them in training devices as well as actual combat equipment. So theoretically the soldier draws his weapon and a switch can be pushed on it and it can be taken into a small synthetic theater that can be set up easily either in the unit area or at any location. That gives him near perfect fidelity with respect to how his weapon would operate in a real environment, and it’s his own weapon,” Williams tells the Show Daily.
I/ITSEC 2018: Raytheon HoloLens itself to sim and training market (video) https://t.co/hwASSZOmHO #iitsec pic.twitter.com/VXO0ATUzas
— Shephard News (@ShephardNews) November 27, 2018
First day at #iitsec2018 was awesome! Lots of AR/VR setups making me excited to see the state of immersive technologies in industry and government
— Chris Tamez (@tamezsoftware) November 26, 2018
From Congress to I/ITSEC’s show floor:
Each year I/ITSEC organizers host a bipartisan Congressional panel and these members walk the show floor to learn about the latest technologies and innovations. According to RADM James Robb, USN (Ret.), President, National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA), the presence of these Congressional members is “a great demonstration of their support for the community and for the modeling, training and simulation businesses.”
Enjoyed the opportunity to briefly discuss veterans issues with @RepJackBergman at #IITSEC2018 yesterday. Always good to say hello to @RepStephMurphy again. Thank you to @soartech for bringing me into their demo and discussion with members of the Congressional M&S Caucus. #IITSEC pic.twitter.com/IhIhWV5UKq
— Barron Mills (@BarronMills1) November 27, 2018
While the first two days of I/ITSEC were packed, we are looking forward to what the rest of the week will bring. Stay tuned for more updates from the Modern Military Training editorial team by subscribing to our newsletter.
