IT Concepts takes a strong interest in the future of the Air and Space Forces and how to best meet the needs of our customers. The AFCEA NOVA chapter held an Air and Space Forces IT Day on December 15, 2020. The AFCEA NOVA presentations helped ITC further it’s understanding of where the Air and Space Forces are heading.
Our data engineering, data science, and DevSecOps capability, as well as our support to SAF/MG, Kessel Run, and A9, are helping the USAF achieve many of the goals outlined at the AFCEA NOVA event. Our Chief Technology Officer, Jon Hammond, attended the event.
About the Event
The day kicked off with a keynote from Ms. Lauren Knausenberger, Deputy Chief Information Officer U.S. Air Force. She discussed the 4 pillars of the JADC2– digital foundation, UX, Digital Talent, process– and talked about laying the digital foundation and building the 21st Century IT Store– e.g., Enterprise IT-as-a-Service (EITaaS), Cloud Hosted Enterprise Service (CHES), and Cloud One/Platform One.
The Data Strategy panel discussion centered around the challenges of COVID-19, as well as some of the good that has came out of the pandemic. The good included increased collaboration, and the bad included challenges when working with classified communication. They discussed challenges around governance, complexity, managing change, DevSecOps, and security.
Space Force
The last year of launching Space Force was impressive. To date, there are 2206 people, with 6400 end of FY21. During this panel, they established themselves as the first digital service and a flat organization. They noted that they hire for the position not the rank, and are being frugal with their systems by reusing a lot of Air Force platforms. Space Force starts with a lean agile mindset and are committed to a culture different from the other services.
Key Takeaways for IT Concepts
ITC CTO, Jon Hammond, says,
“The AFCEA NOVA Air and Space Forces IT Day was a great way to stay informed on our DoD customers Digital Transformation efforts and the challenges they face every day providing enhanced mission capabilities. It reaffirmed that ITC’s approach to Data Services and EITaaS is in line and tightly coupled with Air Force and DoD operational goals.”
To learn more about the event, visit AFCEA NOVA Air and Space Forces IT Day 2020 website
