28
July 2025
Past Event
Postponed | Bridging the Valley of Death: Using Experimentation to Solve Operational Problems

Event will also air live on this page.

 

 

Inquiries: [email protected].

Postponed | Bridging the Valley of Death: Using Experimentation to Solve Operational Problems

Past Event
Hudson Institute
July 28, 2025
DVIDS
Caption
US Army Spc. Harry Santiago IV, assigned to the Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), launches a Skydio X2D drone on Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania on July 9, 2025. (US Army photo by Spc. Breanna Bradford)
28
July 2025
Past Event

Event will also air live on this page.

 

 

Inquiries: [email protected].

Speakers:
JS
Joy Shanaberger

Chief Technology Officer, CENTCOM

DE
Dan Ermer

Director for Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

RS
Capt. Raymond G. Stromberger

Joint Fires Division Chief, US Indo-Pacific Command

GW
Gary Western

Director of Engineering, Motorola Solutions

DS
David Schmolke

Vice President, Government Systems Networking Business, Viasat Inc.

YC
Yi Chao

Founder and CEO, Seatrec

RB
Rick Berger

Policy/Budget Director, Senate Armed Services Committee

GP
Gina Pizziconi

Professional Staff Member, House Appropriations Committee

AL
Alex Lovett

Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

De
Dan Edwards

Chief Technology Officer, Platform Aerospace

Moderators:
DL
Dan Lamothe

Journalist, Washington Post

bryan_clark
Bryan Clark

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology

dan_patt
Dan Patt

Senior Fellow, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology

The Pentagon has struggled for decades to get new technologies out of the lab and into the hands of operators. But the Department of Defense is now using experimentation to more rapidly assess new capabilities and integrate them into the force, efforts that accelerated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the department’s launch of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) initiative. Congress wants to supercharge this Pentagon experimentation. The proposed SPEED Act aims to use the DoD’s experimentation- and integration-focused organizations and processes—rather than legacy capability-development programs—as the primary path for identifying and fielding solutions to commanders’ operational needs.

Please join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Bryan Clark, US defense officials, and industry leaders for an event co-organized with the National Defense Industrial Association's Emerging Technologies Institute, highlighting the DoD’s recent accomplishments in translating concept to capability through experimentation in support of the nation’s most urgent military challenges.

Agenda

1:00 p.m. | Panel 1: Current Experimentation

  • Joy Shanaberger, Chief Technology Officer, CENTCOM
  • Dan Ermer, Director for Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
  • Capt. Raymond G. Stromberger, Joint Fires Division Chief, US Indo-Pacific Command
  • Gary Western, Director of Engineering, Motorola Solutions
  • David Schmolke, Vice President, Government Systems Networking Business, Viasat Inc.
  • Yi Chao, Founder and CEO, Seatrec

Moderator

  • Dan Lamothe, Journalist, Washington Post

2:30 p.m. | Panel 2: Future Role of Experimentation

  • Rick Berger, Policy/Budget Director, Senate Armed Services Committee
  • Gina Pizziconi, Professional Staff Member, House Appropriations Committee
  • Alex Lovett, Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Capabilities, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
  • Dan Edwards, Chief Technology Officer, Platform Aerospace

Moderator

  • Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
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