National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)

Building Trust and Talent: Why Credible Credentials Matter More Than Ever

Assessment is a central element of Human Systems Integration (HSI) work, particularly for Personalized Assessment, Education, & Training (PAE&T) practitioners. But how much do Department of War (DoW) HSI professionals actually know about testing, certification, credentialing, and accreditation — and how relevant is credentialing to DoW and its industrial base? Could it serve as a force multiplier?

Join this Q&A session, facilitated by Jenn McNamara (HSI PAE&T Lead), featuring top leaders in the testing and credentialing industry. We'll cover the basics of credentialing, explore its relevance to DoW, and share practical guidance on incorporating credentialing into a personalized learning and development pathway.

MODSIM World 2026 will represent a deliberate shift in direction. Delivering a new focus on speed, integration, and mission impact across the Modeling & Simulation (M&S) enterprise. This evolution moves beyond traditional conference dialogue toward rapid capability integration, cross-domain collaboration, and practical application, ensuring that ideas transition more quickly into operational outcomes. By convening the global M&S community under this renewed vision, MODSIM is prioritizing innovation with urgency, strengthening real-world capability, and increasing velocity across industries and mission domains to meet the demands of a more complex and competitive environment.

***This is a classified meeting on Wednesday at the TS/SCI Level.  Thursday is non- classified***

WHY ATTEND

• Connect – Engage in person with mission-driven professionals from across the space enterprise, including program managers, acquisition leaders, engineers, scientists, strategists, and international partners from government, industry, and academia.
• Learn – Gain critical insight during dynamic plenary sessions and exclusive briefings, including both unclassified and classified content led by USSPACECOM and USSF leadership.
• Showcase – Position your organization in front of senior decision-makers shaping the future of space warfighting. Sponsorships offer prime visibility and networking opportunities throughout the forum.

• The meetings are an opportunity for frank discussion between the Services, OSD, and Industry
• No minutes are published as a way to incentivize open and frank discussions
• Discussions are on a not-for-attribution basis
• Membership is meant to be at the executive, decision-making level
• We intend to produce a product that is useful to industry and the government

The Mastering the Art of Business Development® Workshop is an educational and professional development program which focuses on the thinking, process and discipline required for professional Business Development. This 2-day workshop fosters participants’ understanding of the core competencies required for success in the Business Development role.

Business Development is primarily a relationship development and intelligence gathering process. Participants will learn how to leverage the principles of behavioral psychology to identify valid prospects and pipeline opportunities, effectively qualify them and develop win-win business relationships for their organizations, their clients and themselves.

This interactive, participant-centered workshop introduces the MBDi Business Development Process®, with its early shaping Opportunity Identification & Qualification component and the MBDi HUMINT® Client Engagement Process. This Client Engagement Process guides participants through a series of planning phases and client engagement steps designed to change how participants think, behave and engage prospects and clients within their Business Development role.

Through the instructor’s use of Socratic teaching techniques, participants will acquire the knowledge, thinking, skills and discipline required to proactively engage clients from a Strategic Hunting, Organic Farming or Program Management perspective. Participants have described this workshop as a career-transforming experience.

During this interactive, participant-centered workshop, participants will:

• Explore the concepts of self-identity and role-identity and how to differentiate between goals and purpose in professional and personal life.
•  Learn how to deal with rejection, risk-taking and failure and gain a better understanding of the importance of leadership, integrity and character in developing business.
• Acquire a better understanding of the psychology of human behavior and how it applies to their own self-knowledge and understanding of others.
• Review the fundamentals of the MBDi Business Development Process and how the rules of the relationship are established.
• Learn how to control the client interview process and gain valuable insights into how and why people buy.
• Learn a proven 4 phase Client Engagement Process that produces high value, human intelligence that drives Opportunity Identification & Qualification (OI&Q)i.
• Learn account planning, intelligence gathering, call planning and script development with role playing of specific client calls.
• Experience how individuals’ bond and position in different roles and at different levels within an organization
• Understand how to control the decision-making process in the procurement cycle and master the skills needed for prospecting, qualifying and closing business.
• Learn how to overcome the psychological limitations and barriers implicit in developing business and how to successfully integrate these processes and skills into the daily practice of client engagement.

The NDIA has a policy of strict compliance with federal and state antitrust laws. The antitrust laws prohibit competitors from engaging in actions that could result in an unreasonable restraint of trade. Consequently, NDIA members must avoid discussing certain topics when they are together – both at formal association membership, board, committee, and other meetings and in informal contacts with other industry members: prices, fees, rates, profit margins, or other terms or conditions of sale (including allowances, credit terms, and warranties); allocation of markets or customers or division of territories; or refusals to deal with or boycotts of suppliers, customers or other third parties, or topics that may lead participants not to deal with a particular supplier, customer or third party.

Make your plans now to join AIA’s Intellectual Property Committee and NDIA’s Intellectual Property Working Group for the 2026 Technical Data Rights Forum. This year’s forum comes at a turbulent moment for the domestic and global economy, yet also at a time of increasing global competition and innovation. Join us for a joint industry-government discussion on intellectual property and data rights’ newest regulatory and legislative developments, emerging trends, and mutual pain points.

This meeting is being conducted under the Chatham House Rule.

The  2026 USW Fall Conference in Groton, Connecticut will take place September 21–23 this year! Join leaders from across the undersea warfare community for three energizing days of connection, innovation, and forward-looking conversations shaping what’s next. 

Please note: This event is classified at the SECRET//REL USA, AUS, GBR level.

Why Attend the 2026 Undersea Warfare Fall Conference?

• Gain Insider Insights into the latest advancements in undersea warfare, including countering submarine and mine threats and enhancing power projection from the sea.
• Hear from Key Experts: Engage with Navy leaders, SYSCOM program office leadership, and defense industry professionals.
• Network with Industry Peers: Build valuable connections with professionals from operational, acquisition, technology, and defense sectors.
• Shape the Future of undersea operations by contributing to the ongoing evolution of Navy mission areas and technologies.
• Exclusive, Classified Content: Attend a SECRET//REL USA, AUS, GBR level event with over 1,000 attendees, providing a unique opportunity to engage with key decision-makers and experts in the field.

The Honorable Peter B. Teets Award is the Space Division’s highest honor, recognizing exceptional public and private sector leadership or achievement that significantly advances the development, introduction, operational contribution, or support of space systems.

Each year, the Division honors one individual from government and one from industry whose contributions have had a lasting impact on the space enterprise.