Offset Symposium

Launched by Second Front in 2017, the Offset Symposium promotes constructive engagement between the venture-backed innovation ecosystem, traditional defense base, and national security mission users in order to accelerate discovery of and access to emerging commercial technologies. 

This year's Offset Symposium theme is China, Silicon Valley, and National Security. Keynote speakers this year include Michele Flournoy (co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors, and former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy) and Michael Brown (Director of the Defense Innovation Unit and former CEO of Symantec).

The US federal government has recognized the potential threat Chinese and other foreign investment poses to our national security, passing significant legislative change in 2018 to expand the scope of review for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States - CFIUS. These changes greatly expand the scope of review for foreign investment, adding regulatory burdens to both investors and start-ups alike. While advocates say that these changes will protect the US from dangerous tech transfer to China, opponents say it goes too far stifling innovation and capital flow in Silicon Valley. This balance - between national security and the free market, between innovation and protection - is delicate. The Offset Symposium will bring together experts from both DC and Silicon Valley to discuss all sides and aspects of this important issue - driving cohesive thought leadership from all parties to identify, assess, and debate new ideas to address this complicated problem.