2nd Annual Autonomous Capabilities for DoD Summit

September 19- 20, 2018 | The Mary M. Gates Learning Center, Alexandria, VA

The 2018 Autonomous Capabilities for DoD Summit will provide a forum to discuss the advancements and applications of autonomy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to enhance current and emerging DoD capabilities and systems. The Summit will focus on the key efforts aimed at accelerating the exploitation of autonomy, both to realize the potential military value, and to remain ahead of adversaries who will also exploit its operational benefits.

2018 Confirmed Speakers:

Lt Gen John Shanahan, USAF, Director for Defense Intelligence – Warfighter Support, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Thomas Russell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, Research & Technology ASA(ALT), U.S. Army

Sharon Beermann-Curtin, Acting Director, Strategic Capabilities Office, OSD

Robert Sadowski, SES, Army Chief Roboticist, Chair RDECOM Robotics Community of Practice, Ground Vehicle Robots, TARDEC

Orin Hoffman, Autonomy and Robotics HQE, Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx)

Additional Speakers Include:

Darryl K. Ahner, Director, OSD Scientific Test and Analysis Techniques Center of Excellence (STAT COE), Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT)

David Gunning, PM, I2O DARPA

Timothy M. Persons, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Topics to be covered at the 2018 Summit:
-Accelerating the DoD's Adoption of Autonomous Capabilities

-Addressing Design, Requirements, and Acquisition Challenges Specific to Autonomy

-Supporting Research and Advancements to Machine Learning / AI

-Applying Levels of Machine Learning and Narrow AI to DoD Systems at Rest and In Motion Across Physical and Non-Physical Domain Systems and Platforms

-Developing Test, Evaluation, Validation, and Verification (TEVV) Techniques that Focus on Challenges Unique to Autonomy

-Human-Machine Teaming Challenges of Transitioning to Increasingly Autonomous Systems

-Improving Trustworthiness and Trust in Autonomous Systems

-Integrating Counter-Autonomy to Remain Ahead of Adversaries Leveraging Autonomy

At our Summit you will have the ability:

Gain Education & Insight: Walk away with knowledge gained from our senior level speakers on some of the most complex issues facing the DoD and Government as it relates to autonomy, AI, and machine learning.

Build Partnerships: The agenda is designed to allow for ample networking opportunities and the ability to discover some of the latest technologies, policy considerations, and solutions of interest to the DoD and Government for autonomy, AI and machine learning.

Influence: Help foster ideas! Share your own insight and knowledge during our interactive sessions. Our town hall format is your opportunity to address our speakers with questions or comments on the current mission.

Why you should attend this year’s Summit:

Recent DoD findings and leadership across the Services have readily acknowledged the wide-spread applicability for autonomous capabilities across DoD systems and platforms. Fueled by advances in artificial intelligence, the current role of autonomous capabilities in DoD missions will regularly grow in importance as critical technology matures and mission sets continue to evolve to better leverage these capabilities. The efforts to accelerate the DoD’s adoption of autonomous capabilities are well underway, both to realize the potential Military value and capacity, and to remain ahead of adversaries who will also exploit its operational benefits.

Autonomy can provide substantial operational value across an increasingly diverse and constantly evolving set of DoD missions. However, the DoD must move rapidly to realize this value, which requires a proportionate amount of time structuring requirements, technology investment, and acquisition strategies to meet near and far-term mission needs.

The 2018 Autonomous Capabilities for DoD Summit will provide a forum to discuss the advancements and applications of autonomy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to enhance current and emerging DoD capabilities and systems. At this Summit, you will have the chance to closely examine the DoD’s major initiatives in the enabling of autonomous systems, strategic assessments of the challenges, gaps, and opportunities for current and future application, to also include the identification of potential investments that advance and initiate critical capability development.