Announcing DSI's 3rd Digital Engineering for Defense Summit

Aerospace and Defense Review | Monday, April 14, 2025

Defense Strategies Institute’s 3rd Digital Engineering for Defense Summit will bring together leaders from across the DoD, federal government, industry, academia, and other relevant stakeholders in Washington, DC, to modernize defense engineering and acquisition practices with digital engineering tools, technologies, and processes.

To remain competitive against increasingly advanced adversaries, the United States is committed to delivering the warfighting advantage at speed and scale.  To do so, the Department of Defense is prioritizing the modernization of its engineering practices to streamline and accelerate the development of advanced warfighting technologies, weapons, and platforms.  DoD Instruction 5000.97 implements the use of digital engineering across acquisition and sustainment lifecycles to enhance efficiency, reduce risk, and drive innovation in defense systems.

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Topics of Discussion Include:

- Leveraging Digital Tools to Transform How the DoD Approaches Integrated Mission Success

- Championing Digital Engineering Strategies, Policies, and Practices Across the DoD

- Leveraging Digital Transformation to Support DAF Acquisitions and Materiel Management

- Transforming Test & Evaluation to be Faster, More Reliable, and More Efficient with Digital Engineering

- Efforts to Advance Digital Engineering and Deliver Capabilities to the Warfighter with Speed and Agility

Confirmed Speakers Include:

- Event Moderator: Philomena Zimmerman, SERC/AIRC

- Elmer L. Roman, SES, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Mission Integration, OUSD R&E

- Lily Arcusa, SES, Director of Engineering and Technical Management Chief Engineer, AFLCMC

- Rear Admiral Peter D. Small, USN, Chief Engineer and Deputy Commander of Naval Systems, NAVSEA

- Daniel Hettema, Director, Digital Engineering, Modeling & Simulation, OUSD R&E

- Kyle Hurst, Director, Digital Transformation Office, Department of the Air Force

- Julia Romanchik, Chief Engineer for Digital Engineering, Army PEO Aviation

- Terry Hill, Digital Engineering Program Manager HQ Office of the Chief Engineer, NASA

- Ben Jimenez, Digital Engineering Lead, MITRE

To learn more, download the agenda, and register, visit the event website at https://digitalengineering.dsigroup.org/.

Active-duty US military and government and state personnel attend complimentary. For more information, contact Emma Watters at ewatters@dsigroup.org for details.

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