The Digital Air Force Initiative is an effort to leverage data and applications at the edge, along with artificial intelligence and machine learning, to “field a 21st century infrastructure responsive to the demands of modern combat.”
As the service branch continues to innovate to current with the shifting environment, the Air Force has leveraged new tactics to increase cybersecurity, modernize IT framework and launch new platforms that support emerging technologies.
GovConWire’s Air Force: IT Plans and Priorities Forum will feature an expert panel that will discuss how the industry can progress the latest initiatives across the Air Force. The panel will host Alka Bhave of Perspecta, as well as Colt Whittall, Nicolas Chaillan and Chad Raduege of the U.S. Air Force.
To register for the Air Force: IT Plans and Priorities Forum, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit GovConWire’s Event Page.
Panelist: Alka Bhave, VP of Performance Excellence for Perspecta
Bhave is the corporate Vice President of Performance Excellence at Perspecta. In this capacity, she has responsibility for leading an independent organization with a mission to drive excellence into the performance of Perspecta programs, with scope across all lines of business and corporate functions.
Panelist: Chad Raduege, Director of Cyberspace and Information Dominance, and Chief Information Officer, Air Combat Command for the U.S. Air Force
Raduege leads a staff and four subordinate units responsible for delivering strategic and enterprise-level cyberspace efforts to increase the U.S. Air Force’s ability to provide combat forces to Combatant Commanders.
He also provides the strategic vision, policy, guidance and advocacy to drive the engineering and integration to build, extend, operate, secure and defend the Air Force portion of the Department of Defense global network.
He is responsible to organize, train and equip cyberspace capability and communications for the command’s 34 wings, 700 aircraft, 19 bases and 70 worldwide operating locations with 98,000 total force military personnel.
Panelist: Colt Whittall, Chief Experience Officer for the U.S. Air Force
Whittall’s role was created to focus on improving the User Experience of Information Technology in the Air Force.
His responsibilities include advising senior leaders of the Air Force with respect to User Experience, defining the overall approach to transforming User Experience, guiding cross-organizational teams working to improve User Experience, developing capabilities to manage and continuously improve User Experience, guide development of User Experience skillsets, tools and resources to support the above initiatives, and advise Acquisitions with regard to User Experience.
Panelist: Nicolas Chaillan, Air Force Chief Software Officer
Chaillan was appointed as the first Air Force chief software officer, under Dr. William Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient.
He is also the co-lead for the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise DevSecOps Initiative with the DoD chief information officer. Chaillan is responsible for enabling Air Force programs in the transition to Agile and DevSecOps to establish force-wide DevSecOps capabilities and best practices, including continuous Authority to Operate processes and faster streamlined technology adoption.
During GovConWire’s Air Force: IT Plans and Priorities Forum, notable federal and industry leaders will discuss digital Air Force Strategies, IT spending, new modernization initiatives and advanced cybersecurity practices that will enable the Air Force to stay up to speed across the defense landscape.
The forum will also feature Lauren Knausenberger, deputy chief information officer of the U.S. Air Force, as the keynote speaker. Jeff Bohling, senior vice president and general manager of Perspecta’s Civilian & Defense Group, will moderate Knausenberger’s address.
Knausenberger provides oversight of the Air Force’s Information Technology portfolio including the Information Technology investment strategy from networks to cloud computing, Enterprise policies, information resources management, IT innovation initiatives, information assurance, and related matters for the Department of the Air Force.
To register for the Air Force: IT Plans and Priorities Forum, as well as view upcoming opportunities, visit GovConWire’s Event Page.
