by Andrew Sinclair, HRP Program Manager
On February 2, industry leaders from across the nation gathered at Norfolk’s Waterside Marriott to discuss modeling and simulation in their regions with Congressmen Forbes, Scott, and Wittman for the annual M&S Caucus Leadership Summit. The Summit this year focused on regional initiatives and needs.
Dana Dickens, President and CEO of the Hampton Roads Partnership, participated in the first panel discussion of the day which focused on the Mid-Atlantic. Mr. Dickens discussed M&S activity in Hampton Roads including its significant economic impact, the development of a regional strategic plan for the industry, regional efforts to fund M&S programs by the General Assembly, the successful industry cluster model employed by the Hampton Roads Research Partnership and VMASC, and the MODSIM World Conference & Expo. Mr. Dickens urged the Congressional M&S Caucus to push for M&S industry-specific NAICS codes, continued support for JFCOM, and a new emphasis on non-DOD application areas for M&S.
Other themes at the Summit included M&S in health and medicine and the need for M&S in the developing realm of cyber-security as well as the development of “mixed reality” – the ability to manipulate real objects within a virtual world. The use of tax credits and the work of research centers around the country were also highlighted. Specifically, Georgia Tech’s Computational Science & Engineering Department and Texas A&M’s research center provide interesting models for Hampton Roads’ M&S programs and centers.
Overall, the Summit provided an excellent state of the industry and opportunity for feedback to the Congressional M&S Caucus. The leadership and participation of the Hampton Roads Congressional delegation in the Caucus and its continued hosting of the Summit in Hampton Roads cements the importance of this industry to the region and the region to the industry.
The conference presentations are now available online and can be found
at:
http://www.ndia.org/Resources/OnlineProceedings/Pages/91C0-2009MSLeadershipSummit.aspx
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment