Fall Fed Supernova Schedule
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
SBIR Accelerator Showcase
Curious what kind of companies use the SBIR Program to snag non-dilutive capital and work with the DoD? Find out during an hour of rapid, back-to-back pitches from companies that recently completed the Capital Factory SBIR Accelerator.
You'll get a peek at some interesting technology, be introduced to impressive founders, and walk away with a better idea of the resources available to help you break into this huge market. This session will be moderated to keep us moving and maximize value for attendees.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
Defense Innovation Unit Welcome Message and Overview
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is the only Department of Defense organization focused exclusively on fielding and scaling commercial technology across the U.S. military. We're a fast-moving team that contracts with commercial companies to help solve critical national security problems — together.
Join us for an exciting and eye-opening day as we introduce you to DIU's mission and vision for pushing the edge of defense possibilities.
Fireside Chat: SECDEF Innovation Priorities
"Build Back Better" is President Biden’s three-part agenda to rescue, recover, and rebuild the economy. This agenda embraces a whole of government approach and the Department of Defense will play a significant role, not only in maintaining a strong national security, but as an economic enabler.
Join this session to learn how the Department of Defense will defend the United States guided by three priorities; defending the nation, taking care of people and succeeding through teamwork. Creating opportunities for new-to-government companies to take advantage of its resources will play a major part in the Department’s plans and during this conversation you will receive behind-the-scenes insights from leadership within the Office of the Secretary of Defense as they discuss administration and defense priorities.
DoDX Ecosystem Counter-Intelligence Brief: The Threat Walks Among Us
Economic uncertainty doesn’t stop innovation, but it has made it more difficult for early-stage companies to secure the funding they need to grow. In response, some startups and entrepreneurs are turning to investments from foreign rivals, especially China, creating potential security problems for their businesses and for the United States as a whole.
In this session, DIU will examine critical points of entry for bad actors seeking to exploit your companies. You'll learn how to identify “adversarial capital” and protect your company from investors with malicious intent as well as how to stay alert and take proactive measures to secure trusted capital.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
NGA Small Business Initiatives
Small business is a big priority for the federal government — including the Department of Defense. Not only is there economic value in helping U.S. startups and entrepreneurs succeed, but the DoD is working hard to up its technology game by diversifying its industrial base with new ideas, new technologies, and new partners.
With nearly 50% of major DoD awards still concentrated within the same five companies, find out how NGA is doing its part to make it easier for small businesses to work with the government. Dale Rainey will brief you on how he ensures these companies — especially women- and minority-owned businesses — are provided an equitable opportunity for prime and subcontracting opportunities.
Empowering Innovation at the Operational Edge
End-user feedback is an essential part of product and software development for most companies. After all, no one knows how a tool actually performs (or should perform) better than the people who use it every day. That’s why DODx organizations are finding creative ways to bring service members directly into the military R&D process — partnering men and women in uniform with commercial innovators to solve tactical-level problems as a team.
Learn how AFWERX is driving these collaborations through its grassroots innovation program, Spark, by connecting Air Force and Space Force intrapreneurs with top problem-solvers from industry, academia, and government. With a decentralized global network, Spark is growing the Air Force’s culture of innovation while turning locally generated ideas and projects into real-world applications.
Incentivizing Private Capital Investment in National Security Interests
Private capital firms have been leery of investing in companies that focus on federal government work, due in part to conventional funding timelines and concerns about translating military technology to the commercial market. But that trend is shifting. In the past 5 years, companies tagged “gov tech” on Crunchbase raised nearly $2B in investment, indicating major growth — and major opportunities — in the government market.
Join AFVentures, the commercial investment arm of the Air Force, to learn how they are helping drive this shift by transforming the Air Force and Space Force into a premier early-stage “investor." By speeding timelines and offering non-dilutive funding to match private capital, AFWERX is attracting more companies as partners and accelerating commercialization of technologies that support national security.
National Security Innovation Investment: Get Capabilities to Market Faster
Software gets the attention but hardware is still key. Join NSIC, NSIN and AWS for a discussion on how hardware startups uniquely benefit from government funding. Don't miss out on understanding how non-dilutive capital can actually surpass the value of private investment when driving national security innovation.
ASF Overview and Welcome Message
Army Software Factory (ASF) is where Soldiers become innovators. The Army's first Soldier-led software factory is where cutting-edge software solutions are developed FOR Soldiers, BY Soldiers.
At Fed Supernova 2021, ASF will introduce you to the change-makers you need to meet in order advance our nation's capabilities and stay competitive. Join us for an overview of ASF at Fed Supernova and a welcome message from the organization's co-director.
ASF Keynote
Army Software Factory is bringing the big guns. Join ASF's keynote speaker for the scoop on defense software innovation.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
Return on Investments & Upcoming Opportunities
This is a MUST ATTEND. Get an update and briefing on the returns on investment on current STRATFIs of the Air Forces big collaborative opportunities. Learn more about the upcoming opportunities and how you can take advantage of these as well! You won't want to miss out on this one!
Artificial Intelligence: Innovation at the Speed of Trust
Artificial intelligence pushes the limits of known possibility. Yet, AI creates unique challenges for public servants as much as philosophers. While countries like China push forward with AI in military applications, democracies like the U.S. are working to balance the game-changing capabilities that AI provides with public concerns about when, how, and why AI-enabled tools are used for the country’s defense.
U.S. leaders are taking these concerns seriously and working diligently to address them. Learn how DIU and others are helping apply the DoD's Ethical Principles for AI to accelerate the adoption of AI for national security while ensuring responsible, lawful use of this promising technology.
The Secret to Building an Outcomes-based DoD Software Culture
Building software is hard. Doing it in the DoD is even harder. How have the Army, Navy, and Air Force figured out how to deliver outcomes in their software development organizations? The answers will surprise you. Join this session to learn more!
Emerging Commercial Markets
Agility Prime, the Air Force Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) program, is a giant leap forward in military thinking on new competitive markets. Through unprecedented commercial partnerships, we are leveling the playing field to support this emerging market in the U.S. But it will not be the last program of its type. Space debris remediation, quieter supersonic travel, and other frontier industries are just a few that are poised to be next.
Come hear more about the AFWERX Prime Division's mission and vision for identifying and accelerating dual-use technologies for commercial success and defense utility. We’ll share successes of the past year, detail the road to fielding an eVTOL capability by 2023, and explain how AFWERX is "franchising" the Agility Prime framework to accelerate and transition dual-use technology related to the space domain.
Turning Soldiers into Software Developers
As the saying goes, “Software is eating the world.” It’s still largely true in the commercial market — and it’s true in national security as well. Highly complex software is now essential to many of the military’s systems and platforms. Coding has made its way to the front line.
The Army’s future operating environment will require that Soldiers can scope and implement software-based solutions on their own, without connectivity, and without outside support. This skill will help them act faster when things are going as planned — and respond faster when the unexpected happens. Join this inspiring session to learn how the Army is empowering Soldiers by building an organic software development capability within the force.
Outcomes Matter: Enabling Continuous Delivery to Avoid Innovation Theater
Continuous Delivery (CD) is the ability to get software into production — or into the hands of users — safely, quickly, and in a sustainable way. This engineering approach is critical to driving outcomes in software development organizations and in making sure they deliver software solutions rather than just promises.
Learn how adopting CD has allowed DoD software development organizations across the Air Force, Army, and beyond to deliver real outcomes rather than more innovation theater.
Innovare Advancement Center: Collaboration and Innovation in Action
By natural extension of its collaborative culture and inspired by the call to action underlying the 2030 S&T Strategy, the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate (AFRL/RI) has intensified its pursuit of new academic and industry partners with complementary capabilities to enable rapid performance cycles to meet the urgent demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), cyber, quantum, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) solutions that enhance the United States’ national security and economic competitiveness. With support from all levels of local, regional, state, and federal government, AFRL/RI has, in parallel to advancing new partnerships, led the development of a state-of-the-art open innovation environment just “over the fence” to expand the Lab’s reach into academic, industry, and startup partners who have vastly extended the Lab’s own capabilities, leveraging diverse computing systems, chip fabrication facilities, novel university technologies, and other federal programs and venture capital investments.
This panel will explore the new Innovare Advancement Center in Rome, NY, it’s aggressive five year strategy to establish 100 new technical partners, 100 new entrepreneurial ventures, and elevate the community’s intellectual leadership in its core technical areas. The panelists represent various members of the Innovare community, to include AFRL and the Griffiss Institute and will discuss opportunities to engage in these critical National Defense areas.
Doing Business with DoD: Acquiring Software From Industry
The DoD acquisition enterprise can be challenging to navigate. Software intensive efforts in the Air Force, Army, and Navy are leveraging commercial technologies and agile methodology to more rapidly deliver new capabilities to the warfighter.
This panel will include speakers from the Air Force's Kessel Run, Army Software Factory, and Navy Black Pearl software practice for a discussion of how each approaches innovation and engagement with industry. Join us to gain insights into key focus areas and recommendations for successful collaboration between government and Industry.
AFWERX Closing Remarks
Catch your breath from taking notes on all the opportunities for the future with Lt Col McMillan as he provides final comments after an exciting day of panels, networking, and discussions.
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
Day 2 Kickoff
Jorge Manresa is VP for Federal/Defense Programs and Director for the Center of Defense Innovation at Capital Factory. On Day 2 of Fed Supernova, Jorge will reflect on the day prior and preview what's coming ahead for the sessions from the Army Track Presented by IBM, the Navy Track (curated by NavalX), and the NSIN Track Presented by Deloitte.
Don't miss what Jorge has to say. Want to learn more about what makes Jorge tick? See below:
The Federal Acquisition “Rosetta Stone”
Jorge is an accomplished 20-year mission-focused business leader having served as a U.S. Air Force - Contracting Officer. Jorge led foundational AFWERX business strategies and realized the USAF Chief of Staff’s call for innovation by influencing the revitalization of the U.S. Air Force - Small Business Innovation Research Program and other strategic innovation initiatives. Jorge now optimizes Capital Factory programs to help all portfolio companies, commercial partners and entrepreneurs organize, collaborate, and deliver innovative solutions to all state, federal & defense partners.
NSIN Overview and Welcome Message
At the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), community is our core strength. Our team builds networks among innovators who generate new solutions to giant problems. By combining problem-solvers from different kinds of communities, NSIN creates powerful and unexpected effects in the service of national security. The question is: Where do YOU fit in?
Find out from Matt Merighi, NSIN’s Acting Director of Operations, as he explains the work of bringing together defense, academic, and entrepreneurial innovators to solve national security problems in new ways. He’ll share more about NSIN’s programs as well as how you can engage with their mission, vision, and scope during Fed Supernova.
Army Futures Command Welcome and Overview
LTG Thomas Todd is Army Futures Command's chief innovation officer. He will share more about the work his team performs behind the scenes, its focus areas for the future, and how Army Futures Command sees the partnership between the Army and industry evolving to help both sides reach their goals.
NavalX Overview and Outcomes
Attention innovators! Here’s your chance to get to know NavalX, the workforce "super-connector" for the U.S. Navy. Formally announced in February 2019, this organization focuses on lowering barriers to make it easier for companies to work with the Navy and arming them with a variety of tools so they can move boldly and quickly forward.
In this overview session, NavalX Director CAPT Ben Van Buskirk will share more about Naval Agility and explain how NavalX connects experts and solutions across an ecosystem of potential opportunities. From investment to experimentation to technology transfer, find out how NavalX is evolving the Navy's innovation landscape — and how you can get involved.
Naval Agility: Responding to the Changing Environment
Stay tuned for more information about the nuclear impact of the Navy's chief modernizer, Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, on Fed Supernova 2021.
Opportunity Knocks: A Snapshot of Army Technology Priorities
Modular open system architectures. Shared data repositories. Computer vision. These aren't just Silicon Valley concerns. The U.S. Army uses many of the same technologies as the commercial market and has many of the same needs — from wearables to robotics, electric vehicles to mixed reality, and beyond.
In this session, technologists and leaders from across the Army will come together to offer a snapshot of their top-priority technology areas and announce opportunities for companies that may have never worked with the government to get involved.
The Cost of Not Pivoting
U.S. companies are facing an unprecedented set of challenges — economic uncertainty, decline of critical markets and suppliers, global competition, loss of vital skills in the workforce, and more. In fact, there are 250+ areas where the country’s industrial base and supply chain face critical risks, and these challenges have a direct impact on our national security.
During this panel, you will have the chance to dive deeper into the threats facing the U.S. industrial base during global competition. Members of the Foreign Investment Tiger Team, CIFIUS, NCIS, the Office of Naval Research, OSD’s Trusted Capital Marketplace, and the Defense Investment Network will discuss how they are working to mitigate these threats with carrots and sticks.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
The Future of Defense Innovation
In 2018, the US Army launched the Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) as an innovation unit embedded within Army Futures Command. Its goal: Foster opportunities to work with untapped companies that could bring dual-use technology and novel ideas to Army modernization.
Join this session to hear AAL's new director, COL Jay Wisham, discuss his observations of the defense innovation space, share what the team has achieved to date, and explain the organization's vision for the future as it works to make the Army a better business partner for small- and mid-sized companies.
Culture Change in the Department: Engaging Non-traditional Problem Solvers Through Collaboration
“Innovation” is just change by another name. While change can be difficult, it’s also essential to progress. And those necessary changes are often realized through a shift in perspective or by adopting lessons learned from a parallel field. The DoD has acknowledged that. Now, it’s time to put that understanding into practice.
By creating spaces for students and service members to work together, NSIN is driving critical collisions and intellectual diversity into the DoD. Join us to learn how NSIN's Collaboration Portfolio connects the right people from across DoD, academia, venture, and beyond to better understand problems and discover new solutions — together.
Lightning Talk: SBIR
Join us for a presentation on how the Department of Navy SBIR program is mobilizing to transition technology faster than ever before.
Lightning Talk: Tech Bridge Overview
Curious about what the NavalX Tech Bridges are? We've got just the session for you! The NavalX Tech Bridges are a connected network that enhances collaboration between Naval Labs, industry, academia, and other military branches. Join the Tech Bridges Director at NavalX for an overview of how to utilize the Tech Bridges ecosystems and tap into opportunities.
Changing the Way We Change: The State of Government Contracting for Innovation
Modernization is a hot topic across the government — and a central tenet of the National Defense Strategy. But it's not just about finding and applying the hottest new tech. It's also about changing how the government sources solutions from the commercial market to catch up with the speed of business and make the process less painful for everyone.
Join Anne Laurent and other contracting experts from across the Army to understand the current status of government contracting, what's already changed, and what new changes are coming to make this vision of modernization a reality.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
National Service Portfolio: Our Most Important Asset - People Who Serve
NSIN's National Service Portfolio create new opportunities to serve for those who might not otherwise participate in national security innovation by building models of service that account for generational and cultural differences between the military, academic, and venture communities, and that provide flexible pathways to official service within the Department of Defense (DoD). Together, these models and pathways aim to grow and diversify participation in national security service.
Tackling National Disasters: Global Center for Coordinated Response and Resiliency
While the U.S. military is all about national defense, national defense is about much more than battle. Humanitarian and diplomatic efforts are equally important to keeping the country safe. That’s why, when natural disasters threaten around the world, members of our military arrive by ship, plane, or helicopter to lend a hand. Whether helping prepare, cleaning up the aftermath, bringing supplies to remote areas, or aiding the sick and injured, service members play an important role in disaster relief.
Although we cannot control when a natural disaster hits, we can control our preparedness, response, and level of resiliency to lessen the damage left behind. Hear how the Global Center for Coordinated Response and Resiliency is helping to improve processes and pathways toward national disaster responses around the world.
Lightning Talk: Naval Enterprise Sustainment Technology Team (NESTT)
Maintenance and sustainment are not glamorous concepts — at least, they didn’t used to be. Now, however, the military is incorporating Industry 5.0-style technology to make sure the systems used on the front line are safe, efficient, and optimized to guard taxpayer dollars and keep the men and women who need them safe.
From mixed reality training to predictive maintenance to robotics, learn more about NESTT’s role in bringing innovative solutions to the Navy’s maintenance and sustainment challenges. Steve McKee will discuss how he and his team are connecting end users in Maintenance Depots across services to critical commercial technology through the SBIR program and beyond.
Tech for Tomorrow’s Battlefield: How Concepts of the Future Drive Investments Today
Tien Pham
U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Chief Scientist, Senior Science Technical Manager for CISD
The U.S. is home to some of the most groundbreaking technology ever created — technology that has changed the world. GPS. Lithium batteries. The iPhone. These are all commonplace today, but they were once the major innovations of their time. And all of these innovations can trace their roots back to the U.S. military. That’s because, for decades, the military was out in front with research and development, from WWII to the Apollo missions and beyond.
In this session, BG Stephanie Ahern will lead an informative and entertaining discussion with Army scientists, futurists, and commercial experts to explain how concepts about the future of battle influence where the Army invests today. Join us to learn more about the Army's technology roadmap and how companies with relevant solutions can become partners for the future.
Lightning Talk: PEO IWS
The mission of the Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) is to develop, deliver and sustain operationally dominant combat systems for Sailors. How? And what's next? Join this session to learn just that and also how NESTT is adapting its model to take advantage of commercial capabilities.
Ensuring Joint Success: The Next Step In Innovation for the Department
Where do we go from here? Take the next step with us as we hear from key leaders how joint solutions activate the full potential of defense innovation possibilities.
Public-Private Partnerships: A Human Network to Support Unmanned Systems
Much like commercial industry, the U.S. military is increasing its use of unmanned and anonymous systems to perform tasks that humans can’t — or shouldn’t — do. Far beyond aerial drones, these mobile-guided vehicles also operate on land, in water, or in space to reduce costs, save lives, and advance our society into a safer, smarter future.
That’s exactly why the U.S Navy and Marine Corps have prioritized unmanned systems as key enablers for their missions. This panel brings together stakeholders from across the Department of the Navy to articulate their current challenges, explain how the Navy is adapting to overcome them, and share how they are partnering with innovative companies to adopt new capabilities in this space.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
Networking
Catch your breath, grab a coffee, and chat with changemakers. Get energized and inspired by the world-class professionals in the room and expand your network to the next level.
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