Speakers talk integration, cyberspace at conference

  • Published
  • By Stephen Hurst
  • 754th Electronic Systems Group Public Affairs
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AFPN) --  Nearly 5,000 government and industry officials gathered here at the Auburn University-Montgomery campus Aug. 13 to 15 for the 2007 Air Force Information Technology Conference.

Hosted by the 754th Electronic Systems Group in conjunction with the city of Montgomery, the Air Force Information Technology Conference, or AFITC, provides information technology users with current and planned efforts of industry and various government agencies in promoting "Global Effects Through Integrated Information" -- the theme of this year's event. 

Air Force, Department of Defense and industry senior leaders spoke to attendees about the latest developments in technology, and implementing and delivering integrated information to the warfighter.

Lt. Gen. Charles L. Johnson II told conference attendees that technological advances made throughout the last two decades have been amazing. General Johnson is the Electronic Systems Center commander at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

"There is so much out there that we need to integrate," General Johnson said. "Net-centricity is the lifeblood of our operations and the future of the armed forces."

While further discussing the need for joint, integrated information, Lt. Gen. Charles E. "Charlie" Croom Jr. briefed attendees on several ongoing efforts, such as the Global Directory Service that will enable users to obtain contact information across branch-of-service boundaries. General Croom is director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Dr. Lani Kass, the special assistant to the Air Force chief of staff and director of the CSAF's Cyberspace Task Force, discussed the need to dominate the five areas necessary to effectively wage war -- land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.

She highlighted the importance of cyberspace by describing how terrorists have used the Internet as a "virtual university" to recruit and train members. She also noted that consumer electronics, mobile communication devices and the Web have been used to coordinate and carry out terrorist attacks.

"We have established a strategy to dominate cyberspace and the electro-magnetic spectrum," Dr. Kass said. "Our goal is freedom from attack and freedom to attack, complete control of the electro-magnetic spectrum."

The conference also featured several keynote addresses from industry leaders who discussed how the technologies they are involved with are benefiting the warfighter.

Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer of Research in Motion, discussed how mobile technology is enabling global connectivity 24/7. Douglas Merrill, vice president of engineering for Google, discussed how Internet search capabilities are benefiting Air Force information technology developers.

"Search is the oxygen of today's information technology," Mr. Merrill said. "Without search, it is impossible to compare various ideas in a small amount of time."

Scott McNeely, Sun Microsystems chairman, discussed how sharing open architecture software is benefiting information technology developers through online developer communities.

"Open architecture lowers the barrier of entry associated with cost to IT developers, enabling us to leverage their innovation through research and development," Mr. McNeely said.

In addition, a first at this year's conference was a small business matchmaking event, which was designed to help small IT businesses learn how to do business with the government.

Ron Poussard, director of Small Business Programs for the Air Force, gave a special address to the small business representatives in attendance.

"We know the importance of small business to the economy through their constant innovation and job creation," he said. "We must make sure as an Air Force that we do not neglect the resources that small businesses can bring to the warfighter." 

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