GovCon Wire
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Recorded on Thursday, June 03, 2021 8:00am-10:00am EST ON24
Emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology is radically transforming the national security landscape. AI is now a critical part of national security goals, priorities and overall strategy. Federal and commercial players must remain on the cutting edge of AI technology to stay ahead of our nation’s adversaries.
During GovConWire’s AI: Innovation in National Security Forum, notable federal and industry leaders will discuss the role of AI in national security as well as what commercial industry can do to assist in AI innovation.
Featuring Katrina McFarland, Commissioner of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), join our event to learn more about how AI will shape the future of national security in 2021 and beyond.
Dr. Jill Crisman is the Principal Director for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and is responsible for developing the Department-wide AI roadmap and unifying and coordinating the Department's plans and investments to achieve a competitive advantage in AI. She will be emphasizing the engineering required to transform AI research into operational AI in collaboration with the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and the Services. Dr. Crisman joins Research and Engineering after serving as the chief scientist at the JAIC where she, as part of the leadership team, helped to stand up the organization. Previously, she was the chief scientist at Next Century Corporation and a Program Manager at the U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). Dr. Crisman's primary interest is in the field of machine perception, planning, and interfaces that significantly enhance human/machine collaboration. She holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where her thesis created some of the first perception algorithms for self-driving cars. Dr. Crisman was an Associate Professor and director of the Robotics and Computer Vision Systems at Northeastern University and a founding faculty member of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.
Dr. Stephen T. Homeyer (Steve) is Vice President, Intelligence Strategy and leads the Space Intelligence Business Unit in the Intelligence & Security sector at BAE Systems, Inc. He is responsible for leading the cross organizational strategic initiatives for expansion in key markets; assessing the impact of our response to customer mission and strategy; collecting and analyzing our competitive market; and leading cross organizational strategic engagement for the Intelligence Solutions business area. Steve has extensive experience in the Intelligence Community. Prior to coming to BAE Systems, he served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and as the Deputy Director of the Research Directorate and Director of the Basic & Applied Research at the National Geospatial Agency (NGA). He also served as the Chief of the FBI’s Counterterrorism R&D effort and has also worked in the commercial sector in the Nanotechnology and Space industries. Steve holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and an M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, as well as a B.A. in Chemistry and Mathematics from Huntingdon University in Montgomery, Alabama.
Peder Jungck is the vice president and general manager of theIntelligence Solutions and Modeling & Simulation Solutions business areas within the Intelligence & Security (I&S) sector of BAE Systems, Inc. The Intelligence Solutions business develops and deploys high-assurance networks, cloud, and software solutions, leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced data science methodologies that facilitate the secure exchange of data across civilian and military intelligence agencies in support of national security. The Modeling & Simulations business, formed in March 2022 following the acquisition of Bohemia Interactive Solutions (BISim), provides market leadership in virtual desktop training, synthetic training, wargaming and operational simulation environments for US and Western aligned militaries. Prior to these roles, Peder served as the I&S sector’s chief technology officer and chair of BAE Systems, Inc.’s Engineering and Technology Council. In those roles, he led a broad range of engineering and technical teams in instituting innovation strategies to develop and integrate new capabilities, while simultaneously instituting a robust technical employee training and certification initiative to create market discriminators in support of business winning. Peder joined BAE Systems in 2013 after serving in several key technology leadership positions for Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), most recently as the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Cyber Security Group within the National Security Sector. He was also named a Technical Fellow during his tenure. He joined SAIC via the acquisition of CloudShield Technologies, Inc. which he founded in 2000, and which focused on trusted platforms for cyber security. Peder is an entrepreneur and technology leader who pioneered high‐speed content-based networking and cyber security systems to meet the needs of government, carriers and large enterprises. He has been a guiding architect at several networking, security, and data intelligence companies where he earned 28 patents and co-authored multiple peer reviewed papers and books. Peder is a board member of the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC) where he also served as president from 2017 to 2022. He is also on the board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) and serves on several advisory boards for cyber and STEM issues. Peder received a bachelor of arts degree from Beloit College in mathematics and computer science. He attended Clarkson University for electrical and computer engineering and currently serves on the Dean’s Leadership Council for Clarkson University’s Coulter School of Engineering.
The Honorable Katharina McFarland joined the SAIC Board in 2019. Prior to her onboarding, Ms. McFarland was a Director for Engility Holdings, Inc. from 2017 to 2019. In 2017, she retired from civil service as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. She was appointed to this position in 2012 by then President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. During her ASD tenure, she was also appointed Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisitions, Logistics & Technology and Army Acquisition Executive. Prior to her 2012 ASD appointment, McFarland served as President of the Defense Acquisition University from November, 2010 to May, 2012. From May, 2006 to November, 2010, she was the Director of Acquisition, Missile Defense Agency. Ms. McFarland began her civil service career in 1986 at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps as a general engineer. Ms. McFarland received an Honorary Doctoral degree in Engineering from the University of Cranfield, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Queens University in Kingston, Canada, with accreditations in Materials, Electronics and Civil Engineering.
Dr. Jane Pinelis is the Chief of the Test, Evaluation, and Assessment branch at the Department of Defense Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). She leads a diverse team of testers and analysts in rigorous test and evaluation (T&E) for JAIC capabilities, as well as development of T&E-specific products and standards that will support testing of AI-enabled systems across the DoD. Prior to joining the JAIC, Dr. Pinelis served as the Director of Test and Evaluation for USDI’s Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, better known as Project Maven. She directed the developmental testing for the AI models, including computer vision, machine translation, facial recognition and natural language processing. Her team developed metrics at various levels of testing for AI capabilities and provided leadership empirically-based recommendations for model fielding. Additionally, she oversaw operational and human-machine teaming testing, and conducted research and outreach to establish standards in T&E of systems using artificial intelligence. Dr. Pinelis has spent over 10 years working predominantly in the area of defense and national security. She has largely focused on operational test and evaluation, both in support of the service operational testing commands and also at the OSD level. In her previous job as the Test Science Lead at the Institute of Defense Analyses, she managed an interdisciplinary team of scientists supporting the Director and the Chief Scientist of the Department of Operational Test and Evaluation on integration of statistical test design and analysis and data-driven assessments into test and evaluation practice. Before, that, in her assignment at the Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Activity, Dr. Pinelis led the design and analysis of the widely publicized study on the effects of integrating women into combat roles in the Marine Corps. Based on this experience, she co-authored a book, titled “The Experiment of a Lifetime: Doing Science in the Wild for the United States Marine Corps.” In addition to T&E, Dr. Pinelis has several years of experience leading analyses for the DoD in the areas of wargaming, precision medicine, warfighter mental health, nuclear non-proliferation, and military recruiting and manpower planning. Her areas of statistical expertise include design and analysis of experiments, quasi-experiments, and observational studies, causal inference, and propensity score methods. Dr. Pinelis holds a BS in Statistics, Economics, and Mathematics, an MA in Statistics, and a PhD in Statistics, all from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Mr. Dean Souleles is a uniquely experienced technology leader with four decades experience in a variety of senior executive roles in government and private industry. He is the former Founding Director of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s AI Innovation Center and Chief Technology Advisor at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he lead the development of the US IC's strategy for rapidly adopting AI and related technology. Previously he served as COO of Resolution Health and EVP and CTO of QuadraMed Corporation, key players in healthcare IT. Previously he founded an early Internet Service Provider and served ten years as a Principal Engineer at NASA JPL.
8:00am - 8:05am EST
Opening Remarks
8:05am - 8:40am EST
Keynote Address- Katrina McFarland, Commissioner, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI)
8:40am - 9:40am EST
Panel Discussion: Transitioning of AI from R&D to Operations
9:40am - 9:45am EST
Closing Remarks
