

April 30 – May 2, 2023 at Graduate Annapolis Hotel, 126 West St, Annapolis, MD 21401
Attendance is Free to Government. Individual Industry Tickets & Partnerships Available
GITEC Agenda
Sunday, April 30, 2023
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Conference Opening Reception
Trophy Room, Graduate Hotel, Annapolis
Monday, May 1, 2023
7:30 AM
Registration and Breakfast
9:00 AM
Welcome Remarks

Tom Suder
CEO / Founder, ATARC

GITEC Chair: John Sprague
IT Chief Engineer, Service Management Office, Office of the Chief Information Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Working Groups: Gerald Caron III
Chief Information Officer, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Conference MC: Tom Temin
Anchor and Columnist, Federal News Network
9:15 AM
Visionary Keynote

Shery Thomas
Cyber Technology Officer, U.S. Marine Forces Cyberspace Command, U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Department of Defense
9:45 AM
Panel: What’s Next for CIOs?
Chief Information Officers are at the forefront of revolutionizing government agencies. Their roles encompass a wide array of duties, including modernization of their agency’s IT ecosystem.
Directly from the CIO Council, “the CIO challenges executive leadership to think strategically about digital disruptions that are forcing business models to change and technology’s role in mission delivery. As a technology leader, the CIO enables and rapidly scales the agency’s digital business ecosystem while concurrently ensuring digital security.”
Tune into this panel as leading CIOs discuss the challenges and opportunities of the position, including how emerging technologies has impacted the way they work.

Benjamin Berry
Chief Information Officer, Bonneville Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy

Gundeep Awhluwalia
Chief Information Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations, U.S. Department of Labor

Guy Cavallo
Chief Information Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Michael Anthony
Chief Information Officer, Office of the Managing Director, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board

Dr. Gregg 'Skip' Bailey
Deputy Chief Information Officer, U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce

James Fitch
Federal Civilian Business Manager, Red Hat

Jason Miller
Executive Editor, Federal News Network
11:23 AM
Emerging Technology Talk
The Rise of Interception and Espionage: How to Prevent it and Ensure Communications and Data Security
Cybersecurity is always in the spotlight for critical data leaks – but other back doors left ajar to malicious attackers are being overlooked. When sensitive information needs to be shared, a quiet phone call (or ‘secure’ message) is often placed with the assumption the audience is known. Think again, messaging services are being intercepted at rates never seen before. The ‘work anywhere’ movement adds to the threat. Government employees are messaging and calling from any place, time or device. Governments cannot afford to compromise security for flexibility.

David Wiseman
Vice President Secure Communications, Blackberry

11:30 AM
Panel: How Emerging Tech Plays a Role in Your Use of Cyber and AI
In today’s world, the emerging technologies in the Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence space are countless, and growing in number everyday. Post-pandemic, the amount of people who are working from everywhere but the office have steadily held, while their needs in terms of cybersecurity, data accessibility and IT solutions have continued to grow. In regards to security, AI and ML are increasingly used to offer protection in the cybersecurity space against all types of attack and while these technologies on their own are efficient at handling threats, the combined use of both is increasingly being adopted by many organizations to ensure the security of their information and data.
Come listen as our panelists discuss the importance of policies to support the emerging technologies within AI, Data Security, and Cyber, while also exploring the applications best suited for addressing IT modernization within Federal Agencies.

Luci Holemans
Air Traffic Organization Cybersecurity Manager, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation

Anil Chaudhry
Director, Technology and Ecosystem Security, Office of the National Cyber Director, Executive Office of the President

LDCR Kenneth Miltenberger
Cyber Operational Assessments Branch Chief, Cyber Red and Blue Teams, U.S. Coast Guard

CAPT Patrick Thompson
Infrastructure Services Division Chief, C5I Service Center, U.S. Coast Guard

Wayne Jacobs
Special Agent In-Charge (Criminal & Cyber), Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice

Sanjay Sardar
Operating Group President Civilian & Health, ASRC Federal

Jayla Whitfield
Staff Writer, GovCIO
12:15 PM
Lunch with Visionary Keynote Briefing

Greg Singleton
Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Breakout Sessions – Cyber and AI Tracks
Limited seats per session. Make sure you select which sessions you’d like to attend, upon registering below!
Cyber Sessions
1:30 PM
Panel: Zero Trust and Quantum: What’s Next?
Zero Trust is a security model, a set of system design principles, and a coordinated cybersecurity and system management strategy based on an acknowledgment that threats exist both inside and outside traditional network boundaries. For many networks, existing infrastructure can be leveraged and integrated to incorporate Zero Trust concepts, but the transition to a mature Zero Trust architecture often requires additional capabilities to obtain the full benefits of a Zero Trust environment. Quantum technologies are rapidly emerging. Concepts that seemed unreal last month are fully functioning now! While quantum will open up the possibility of amazing technological advances, there is also a dark side, in terms of cybersecurity. We have known since 1994, that a sufficiently mature quantum computer will be able to quickly and easily break the most commonly used encryption systems., encryption systems that underpin every aspect of modern life. Secure cryptography is an integral part of Zero Trust implementation and unless Government and the business community take concrete steps now to get ready for that inevitability, the systems we rely on will be catastrophically vulnerable in the coming quantum revolution.
The importance of Zero Trust, and other security methodologies like cryptography, has sky-rocketed especially with the transition to remote and hybrid work. A major challenge leaders face is the complexity of implementing a Zero Trust model across a network with many diverse and large departments, agencies, and systems. How can government agencies strengthen Zero Trust? How can they utilize quantum security? Tune into this panel to hear how Federal Leaders apply and execute Zero Trust within their agency and discuss the critical next steps in transitioning to quantum resistant cryptography.

Colten O'Malley
Deputy Commander, US Army Command and Control Support Agency, U.S. Department of the Army

Gerald Caron III
Chief Information Officer, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

Dylan Presman
Director, Budget and Assessment, Office of the National Cyber Director, Executive Office of the President

Moderator: Kate Macri
Deputy Editor, GovCIO
2:20 PM
Panel: When All Fails – How to Recover from Attacks
There is a focus on ensuring an agency’s cybersecurity is as up to date as possible. But, what does one do when all systems put in place to assist in threat attacks break down?
Given the high stakes in today’s cyber threat landscape, a good cyber strategy must be based on the assumption that, sooner or later, the agency’s defenses will fail. This assumption places the agency’s one step ahead of the attack: knowing that it will happen instead of if. The challenge, then, is to have a plan for responding to, mitigating and recovering from an attack.
Not only is it important to plan ahead your IT infrastructure, it’s important to prepare your employees. Proper training and retention of cybersecurity professionals, in both the public and private spheres, has been a hurdle the last couple of years.
Tune into this panel to listen to topic experts as they answer the following questions and speak to their cyber resilient plans:
How would you recommend one assess a current cyber preparedness and ability to detect, respond and recover from a cyber attack?
What are some best practices for data protection and recovery to help agencies avoid malicious activity or recover from a successful attack successfully?
How to best prepare the workforce to be more cyber resilient?

Rudolf Rojas
Information Technology Manager, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Kimberly Mentzell
Cybersecurity and Aerospace Director, Department of Commerce, State of Maryland

Amy Hamilton, PhD.
Visiting Faculty Chair, Department of Energy, National Defense University, College of Information and Cyberspace

James Palumbo
Chief Information Officer, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Washington, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Department of the Navy

Scott Ledford
Unit Chief - FBI Cyber Division, Cyber Action Team, Advanced Digital Forensics, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Jean Schaffer
Federal Chief Technology Officer, Corelight

Moderator: John Curran
Executive Editor, Meritalk
3:25 PM
Panel: Working with the Executive Order: Next Steps
Within the last year, various new security mandates have been focused around Zero Trust due to the Executive Orders. This is no small task as these government-wide cybersecurity requirements directly impact the outlooks and roadmaps for individual agency security initiatives. In fact, one of the main requirements for this Executive Order is the implementation of SOAR, a security orchestration, automation and response technology tool to help coordinate, execute and automate tasks between various people and tools all within a single platform.
Furthermore, as agencies seek out the best ways to meet cybersecurity requirements and maximize incident response, they should ensure they choose an automation platform that supports use cases beyond traditional SOAR.
Listen into our session as topic experts break down their new goals and implementation plans for the Executive Order and take a deep dive into the measures that will need to be taken in the next year to secure systems and limit the risk of security incidents.

André Mendes
Chief Information Officer, Officer of the Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

Wayne Rodgers
Department Zero Trust Lead, Information Assurance Services, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Education

Martin Stanley
Cybersecurity Assurance Program Manager, Federal Network Resilience Division, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Nicole Willis
Chief Technology Officer, Office of Management and Policy, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Sam Sabin
Cybersecurity Reporter, Axios
AI Sessions
1:30 PM
Panel: Best Practices in AI in the Federal Government
Over the past few years, Government Agencies usage of AI has been on the rise. Due to successful initiatives such as GSA’s Center of Excellence, which has laid the groundwork for some of the best ways to utilize AI, there have been frequent pushes from the Executive branch to continue to gain a better understanding of AI and its best practices across the board in other agencies.
Listen into our session as topic experts break down their best practices for AI utilization within their agencies, and where they see the technology evolving to in the years to come

Edward McLarney
Lead for Transformation Integration & AI Machine Learning, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Katie Baynes
Deputy Chief Science Data Officer, Science Mission Directorate, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Dr. Jonathan M. Smereka
Research Senior Technical Expert, Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center, U.S. Army Futures Command, U.S. Department of the Army

Dr. Robert Whetsel
Associate Director for Data Architecture, Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Ret.)

Karen Howard
Director, Office of Online Services, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Department of Treasury

Cherilyn Pascoe
Senior Technology Policy Advisor, National Institute of Standards and Technologies, U.S. Department of Commerce

Vanessa Altice-Manear
Data Analytics Division Chief, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Jennifer Diamantis
Senior Counsel and Advisor, Office of Strategy and Innovation, Office of Information Technology, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Moderator: Grace Dille
Senior Technology Reporter, MeriTalk
2:20 PM
Panel: Ethical Dilemmas with AI – Public and Federal Use Cases
Over the past 3 years, Federal IT has been forced to transition and shift as we face new challenges with hybrid work, COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain issues. AI and Data have greatly been impacted by the “new normal” we live in. While we’ve faced challenges, new and emerging technologies have assisted in overcoming the hurdles of integrating, updating, and training new employees on AI and Data. With the introduction of new AI products, such as ChatGPT, the ethical decisions behind AI and robotic automation are being questioned.
Listen into our session where topic experts will explain the challenges and solutions they’ve created in order to update and continue to use AI. Where do these Federal leaders see the future of AI and Data Analytics heading? What does it mean to strengthen your agency’s AI and Data Analytics?

Lt. Col Joseph Chapa
Chief Responsible AI Officer, Chief Data and AI Office, U.S Department of the Airforce

Phillip Lam
Head of Opportunity Development and Technology, Technology Transformation Services, Federal Acquisition Service, U.S. General Services Administration

Erica Dretzka
Director of Future Analytic Architecture, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, U.S Department of Defense

David Farquhar
Chief Technology Officer, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice

Moderator: Kiersten Patton
ATARC Consultant
3:25 PM
Panel: Intelligent Data Management – Next Step in Digital Transformation Journey
The evolving digital landscape means government organizations are forced to look
ahead—to move forward—to keep up with the changes to better serve the citizens they
support. Digital transformation efforts have been transforming organizations for years
and now is the time to leverage data management initiatives to maximize and get the
most out of this ‘journey’.
Like most businesses and other organizations around the world today, government
agencies are seeking to reduce costs, realize operational efficiencies and deliver better
services by using software as a service (SaaS) applications and other cloud solutions to
digitally transform the way they operate. Effective data management and governance
require leadership support—and being able to augment the right data at the right time
requires not only data management but intelligent data management.
Tune in to learn how digitally mature your organization is and what your next
move will be. Do you have a strategy in place to access and get value from your most important data — to protect the data?

Kirsten Dalboe
Chief Data Officer, Data Governance Division, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Peter Sima- Eichler
Director, Data Office, Office of Management, Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Interior

Brian Reichenbach
Senior Data Coordinator, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Center for Analytics, U.S. Department of State

Jason Miller
Executive Editor, Federal News Network
4:00 PM
Closing Keynote

John Kindervag
Creator of Zero Trust, Senior Vice President, Cybersecurity Strategy and ON2IT Group Fellow
5:30 PM
Conference Reception
Metropolitan Kitchen & Lounge, Annapolis.
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
7:30 AM
Registration and Breakfast
9:00 AM
Opening Remarks

Tom Suder
CEO / Founder, ATARC
9:15 AM
Visionary Keynote

Ann Dunkin
Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Energy
9:45 AM
Panel: CDO Initiative
The CDO, or Chief Data Officer, is the position in each Federal Government agency that has emerged to lead organizational development in new processes to help leverage the power of data. As a central leadership position role, CDOs are involved in the decision-making process everyday to organize and leverage their agencies’ strategic use of data. The process to secure an agencies’ data, while making it accessible to those who need it has proven to be a major challenge of the past few years, especially with the rise of the pandemic and working remotely a common occurrence.
What is the best way to shape policy to reflect the needs of the agency, while maintaining security as the highest priority? Tune into this panel to listen as Chief Data Officers speak on their lessons learned and vision for 2023 regarding data.

Captain Brian Erickson
Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer, U.S Coast Guard

Luke Douglas
Acting Director, Chief Data Officer, Office of Strategic Information, Research and Planning, Peace Corps

Elizabeth Puchek
Chief Data Officer, Office of Performance and Quality, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Lieutenant Commander Timothy Beach
Command Data Officer, Program Executive of Integrated Warfare System, U.S Department of Navy

Moderator: Jory Heckman
Reporter, Federal News Network
11:15 AM
Panel: CISO’s Approach to 2023
The role of CISO continues to evolve as the threat landscape does. Critical to any CISO’s success is their ability to be influential leaders rather than having the highest levels of technical prowess. In looking at the emerging cybersecurity trends, the impetus of building a high performing team outweighs if they have intimate knowledge of the latest ransomware.
The new cybersecurity challenges come from familiar places. New challenges including hybrid and remote work, shifting to zero trust architecture, as well as recruiting and retaining technical talent. How your CISO responds to them, however, should follow a novel approach.
Listen to our session as topic experts discuss the ever evolving landscape of cybersecurity. How are agencies meeting cybersecurity challenges? What are some emerging cybersecurity trends?

Togai Andrews
Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Information Officer Directorate, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Kevin Carpenter
Senior Cybersecurity Policy Analyst, Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President (Pending Agency Approval)

Paul Blahusch
Chief Information Security Officer, Cybersecurity Directorate, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Labor

Jothi Dugar
Deputy Director (Acting), Center for Information Technology, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Tony Plater
Chief Information Security Officer (Acting), Office of the Chief Information Officer, Under Secretary of the Navy, U.S. Department of the Navy

Ty Hughes
Director of Cybersecurity Integrity Center, U.S. Department of State

Moderator: Tom Temin
Anchor and Columnist, Federal News Network
11:45 AM
Panel: Looking Ahead with CTOs
Chief Technology Officers utilize technology to improve the government and promote technological innovation through the nation’s interests. Considered to be a pinnacle of technology, CTOs are essential in the government since they are the decision-maker when it comes to technology including strategy, planning, implementation, and personnel.
Over the past several years, new concerns have arisen in the technology field with many of these beginning from Covid-19. Some obstacles CTOs face are increasing cybersecurity and data privacy while working remotely, increasing complexity in technology environments, managing an increasing demand for IT professionals, the growing importance of cloud computing, and dealing with the knock-off effects of Covid-19.
Listen in to hear how CTOs face these challenges, share the effectiveness of technology resources within their organization, and future plans for innovation when we are post-pandemic.

Donald Yeske
Chief Technology Officer (Acting), U.S. Department of the Navy CIO

Frank Indiviglio
Chief Technology Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer/High Performance Computing and Communications, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce

David Larrimore
Chief Technology Officer, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Landon Van Dyke
Chief Technology Officer, Office of Management Strategy & Solutions, Under Secretary for Management, U.S. Department of State

Moderator: Kiersten Patton
ATARC Consultant
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