Vanguard Magazine

40 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2021 www.vanguardcanada.com evenT LTG Stephen G. Fogarty, Command- ing General, U.S. Army Cyber Command speaking in this panel took decision advan- tage to the next level. He explained that digital dominance is what they are aim- ing to provide their commanders with. This digital dominance is the ability to sense, understand, decide, act, and assess faster and more effectively than adversar- ies. This requires speech and precision to be decisive. Moving faster than an adver- sary with precision gives a tremendous ad- vantage over them. But to get there you need two principal elements: network and intelligence. By integrating both of these elements helps to U.S Army to meet its objectives. In summing it up, LTG Fog- arty said it is all about the ability to extract value from data at relevant speed and pre- cision to drive action. RAdm Jeff Zwick, Chief of SSE Combat Systems Integration for the CAF and who reports to VCDS, pointed out that for data and digitization, it is about achieving the objectives as outlined in Strong, Secure and Engaged 68: 'Integrate existing and future assets into a networked, joint system-of- systems that will enable the flow of infor- mation among multiple, interconnected platforms and operational headquarters.' He said that it comes back to integration in focusing on three pillars: technology, processes, and people. As we go down this path of digital, Dan- iel Marquez, National Leader of Digital & Technology Transformation Leader- ship Practice at Accenture Canada said it is about coming together as an organization to make the transformation happen. "It is about getting good at systematic change," he said. The differentiator is about explor- ing, embracing, adapting, and learning quickly about change then building on it. The Digital Age Networks Networks play an important part in digital. In leading the discussion on this topic dur- ing the event, Col Rick Fawcett (Ret'd), Vice President, Defence, ADGA Group Consultants Inc. said, "Just as digital is at the core of C4ISR, the network is at the core of digital." Dr Matthew Kellett, Special Advisor, ADM(IM), Department of National De- fence spoke at lengths about the potential of 5G in defence. 5G has many attractive attributes that can be used in defence to help us stay ahead of adversaries. Some of these features and uses include High band- width for cable replacement and full movie video experience; Low latency that can be useful in augmented reality training and remote vehicle piloting; High density for inventory management and use in sensor networks; Low power for portable com- munications; Mesh networking for oper- ating away from fixed infrastructure with a vehicle to vehicle and person to person communications; Beam forming in reduc- ing electromagnetic signatures and Mas- sive MIMO which helps to reduce inter- ference for urban operations. In addition to these attributes, 5G is critical for pan-domain situational aware- ness. Dr Kellett said that in order to main- tain our military advantage, we need situ- ational awareness across all domains. With the growth of sensors, 5G will provide the means to leverage the data from these sen- sors that can be used in real-time decision making. Bruce Rodin, Vice President Wireless Network at Bell provided an overview of 5G and its coverage across Canada. The other panelists J. Sotropa, Chief Engineer at General Dynamics Mission Systems, and John A. Davis, Vice President, Public Sec- tor for Palo Alto Networks talked about the adoption of technology, not just for adoption sake, but that it must be relevant and secure with a user-centric focus. It is about providing a measured value to the user or soldier in the field. Enabling Command and the Need for Training and Partnerships The rest of the two-day conference fea- tured many experts from within industry, DND, CAF, and the U.S. Army touching on sensors, enabling command, training, delivering digital through partnerships, so- lutions for actionable intelligence, ISR on demand, and tactical networks as a service. Attendees heard from: • Eric Fournier, Director General, Innova- tion IDEaS, DND • VAdm Ron Lloyd (Ret'd) • COL Tobin Magsig, Commander US Army Joint Modernization Command - US Army • Cmdre Kelly Williams (Ret'd), Senior Director Strategy and Government Re- lations, General Dynamics Mission Sys- tems–Canada • Maj Austin Douglas (Ret'd) Capture Manager, General Dynamics Mission Systems-Canada • MG Maria Gervais, Director, Synthetic Training Environment Cross Functional Team, US Army Futures Command • Col Steve Desjardins (Ret'd), President, Canadian Military Intelligence Associa- tion • BGen Greg Smith, DGIE, Department of National Defence • John Weigelt, National Technology Of- ficer, Microsoft Canada • Col Robyn Hulan, Canadian Team Lead, Pathfinder Initiative, NORAD • Evan Scott, Account Manager, L3Harris • Dave Cooke, Decisive Technologies • Carmine Caloia, Pre-Sales System Engi- neer, NetApp Canada • Carl Daniels, Chief Operating Officer, CarteNav • Christiana Cavazzoni, Associate Assis- tant Deputy Minister, Information Man- agement, and Deputy Chief Information Officer, DND • Pia Andrews, Director General of the Digital Experience and Client Data Workstream, ESDC • Troy Crosby, Assistant Deputy Minister, Materiel, DND • Jason M. Brown, Strategic Cloud Advi- sor, Google • MG George Franz, U.S. Army, (Ret.), Managing Director, Accenture Federal Services, Cybersecurity, Defense Lead • Chip Downing, Senior Market Develop- ment Director Aerospace and Defense, Real-Time Innovations The next C4ISR and Beyond event will be held in January 2022. Stay connected to Vanguard for updates. "The making sense of the data helps in decision making which provides a decision advantage over adversaries." — BGen Dave Anderson (Ret'd)

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