From West 2023 in San Diego, CA, sponsored by Carahsoft.

A lot of the focus at West 2023 was on the Pacific. But the war in Ukraine was top of mind too. Maj. Gen. Erich Staudacher (GEAF ret.), General Manager of AFCEA Europe, says the similarities in the Pacific and in Europe should inform the way industry works with governments.

Navy leaders are shifting the way they look for solutions to problems. They say they’re asking industry about what’s available more, and moving away from dictating what the service requires companies to build. Capt. Christi Montgomery, Commanding Officer of Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, tells me how she engaged with industry when she visited West 2023.

Operation Flank Speed is the Navy’s “biggest cloud technology advance,” according to RADM Tracy Hines, Navy Cyber Security Division Director in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Cybersecurity is one of the benefits the Navy claims in the program. RADM Hines tells me everyone in the Navy is in the cyber field now.

AFCEA DC Ukraine/Russia luncheon March 22, 2023

Photo: RADM Tracy Hines (L) and Francis Rose, February 15, 2023 at West 2023. Photo via Fed Gov Today