Industry Conferences More Valuable Than Ever.

• Date: 01 July 2018
• Author: Carlisle, Hawk

As the National Defense Industrial Association's president and CEO, I'm sometimes asked about the purpose and value of our conferences, meetings and events. Everything NDIA does is focused on warfighter support so we design our events to act as a catalyst for government, industry and academia collaboration to solve our nation's toughest defense challenges.

Webster's defines a catalyst as "an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action." Close to 150 times each year, NDIA events act as a catalyst for industry-government-academia interaction, providing legal and ethical forums for government and industry to effectively collaborate to solve America's toughest security challenges. From large conventions to smaller, more focused meetings and conferences, NDIA events convene experts in a cost-effective manner that spurs outcomes supporting the strength, resiliency and capacity of the entire defense industrial base and its workforce.

The Defense Department acknowledged the value and benefits of industry association events in the deputy secretary of defense's "Engaging with Industry" March memo.

"Our National Defense Strategy directs our intentional engagement with industry to harness and protect the...