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Emerge 2021: Bringing Vision to Life, Part One: Digital Modernization

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GDIT reignited its signature technology event series, Emerge, an annual event held virtually this year to, as our President Amy Gilliland noted, “rethink what we can accomplish when government and tech come together.” With a theme of “bringing vision to life,” the three-part series began with Digital Modernization, focusing on accelerating the digital modernization of technologies we depend on every day, and is now available to watch on-demand.

Bringing Together Industry, Government and Technology

In the opening address, Gilliland talks about the exciting things happening in the digital modernization space – from artificial intelligence, to cloud migration, to 5G and more. She highlights the importance of retaining and attracting the talent necessary to bring these evolutions to customers, as GDIT is doing via innovative partnerships and investments in talent and in markets beyond the Beltway.

Following Gilliland’s remarks is a keynote from Maria Roat, the Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). She discusses the constantly evolving missions and demands confronting IT professionals and the ways agencies – with technology as an enabler – can perform for today and prepare for the future. As she put it, the need exists to build a comprehensive digital modernization vision across the whole of the federal government.

A government panel discussion on accelerating modernization within managed services discusses tools, expertise and facilities necessary to meet evolving technology needs while also driving value and delivering on the mission. That discussion, led by Brian Fogg, GDIT’s Vice President and Federal Civilian Growth Officer, convened Dominic Cussatt, Acting Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and CIO at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Mia Jordan, Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology Directorate, Federal Student Aid at the Department of Education.

Breakout sessions across three tracks - Modernizing the Enterprise, Automate Everywhere and Delivering Managed Services - feature three, consecutive deeper-dive sessions on critical subtopics within each area, such as Optimizing 5G, Software Defined Networks, AI/ML, Bots & Robotic Process Automation, and Driving Innovation.

The event concludes with a Vision 20/21 Panel discussion, where leaders from GDIT, government and industry look ahead and explore how collaboration, paired with the latest technology, can propel IT modernization forward. This event is moderated by Kristie Grinnell, GDIT’s Vice President, Information Technology and Supply Chain and Global CIO. Participants include Melvin Greer, Chief Data Scientist, Americas at Intel; Krista Kinnard, Chief of Emerging Technologies at the Department of Labor; Brigadier General Chad Raduege, Director of Cyberspace and Information Dominance, and CIO, Headquarters Air Combat Command, U.S. Air Force; and Mike Younkers Senior Director, Systems Engineering, U.S. Federal at Cisco.

Watch the sessions on-demand and be sure to mark your calendars and join us for Part Two on May 26, which will focus on Emerging Technology. Please also join us for Part Three on June 23, focused on the Defense Cloud.