Red Hat Government Symposium 2022: Unleashing innovation, powering missions

Across government, organizations have extended operations from the datacenter to multiple public clouds to the edge. Now they need to manage data and deliver intelligent capabilities across those environments. More than ever, they must achieve those goals with greater simplicity, consistency and availability, along with enhanced security of their IT operations.

These imperatives were the focus of Red Hat Government Symposium 2022, which convened on November 9 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. With an overarching theme of “Innovation Unleashed,” the one-day event packed in eight insightful keynotes and panels delivered by nearly 20 industry and government leaders, plus a half-dozen drill-down breakout sessions. As the day unfolded, the following themes emerged:

Deploying and scaling at the mission edge

The modern battlespace involves satellites, drones and sensors that send and receive data at the extreme edge. Symposium attendees heard from Winston Beauchamp, deputy CIO of the Air Force, and Michelle Davis, director of DoD Solution Architects for Red Hat, about ways the military is using edge compute and data management to accelerate critical decisions and dominate the battlespace.

We also learned about deployment-ready edge technology from Mark Valcich, civilian general manager of Public Sector for Intel, and Dylan Conner, vice president and product manager for Archon. They described standards-based technology that’s enabling rapid edge implementations with stronger security capabilities today.

Achieving automation and insights

Machine learning (ML) and other forms of artificial intelligence (AI) are showing up in more places. Justin Taylor, vice president of AI for Lockheed Martin, and Chris Edillon, solution architect for Red Hat, described how intelligent technologies are transforming the capabilities of drones.

Conference-goers learned about other advanced analytics capabilities in a panel discussion by Jesus Caban, chief of Clinical Research Informatics at Walter Reed Medical Center, and Amanda Purnell, director of Data and Analytics Innovation for the Department of Veterans Affairs. These government leaders provided first hand stories of how AI and ML are helping agencies solve real-world, critical challenges.

Building cyber-resilience

Cybersecurity is now central to innovation. A multilayered defense can help stack the cyber-risk deck in your agency’s favor, noted panelists Ken Bailey, section chief of threat hunting for CISA; Jon Boyens, deputy chief of computer security for NIST; and Sandra López, CTO for Leidos. They shared insight into how organizations can build resilience into their networks and minimize downtime in the face of a breach.

Quantifying quantum computing

Finally, Vishnu Parasuraman, lead of the federal HCT OpenShift offering at IBM, and Michael Epley, chief architect, Public Sector, at Red Hat, explored the vast potential of quantum computing. Combining the results of quantum algorithms with classical computers can unleash a wealth of real-time data to support government missions. These innovations are moving within reach.

But those were only the highlights of Red Hat’s 13th-annual Government Symposium. Attendees also benefited from breakout sessions on real-time edge intelligence, enterprise integration, the future of government service delivery and more. They also heard real-world insights from agency leaders at the Coast Guard, FEMA and USPS, and from technology leaders at Accenture, AWS and KPMG.

Organizations can unleash innovation if they deploy the most effective technologies in the most effective ways. The Red Hat Government Symposium 2022 showed how agencies and their industry partners are doing just that. Couldn’t make it to DC for Red Hat Government Symposium in-person? Join us online for the Best of Symposium keynotes and breakout sessions for free on demand.