Each year I/ITSEC hosts a series of special events that reflect topical areas in the world of Modeling, Simulation and Training. From looking into the future of medical simulation to seeing what Hollywood's most cutting edge effects wizards can bring to the industry, I/ITSEC's Special Events are always innovative and informative.

The I/ITSEC Special Events are divided into four general categories:

  • Signature Events: Must-see "Flag Level" type events such as the Congressional Panel, General/Flag Officers Panel
  • Focus Events: High interest panels and speakers
  • Community of Interest: Smaller audience, tightly focused
  • Program Briefs: Briefs from the Services for ongoing program

Iron Dev

I/ITSEC is now accepting nominations for its second annual Iron Dev competition at I/ITSEC 2022, 28 November –  2 December 2022. Submit here no later than 10 November 2022. 

If you are an organization with developers in the training and simulation industry, we are looking for your involvement in this competition to both showcase your team’s skills as well as improve your training system development skills.

Iron Dev is a team competition similar to competitive cooking shows, where teams will be given a challenge and “secret ingredient” to develop a training solution to improve warfighter readiness. Teams will consist of diverse members with skills in AR/VR development, simulation networking/distribution, graphic design, simulation development, and training development. Teams will have from 28 November to 1 December to develop their system at I/ITSEC. On 1 December the teams will demonstrate their solution in front of a fun and engaging panel of judges in a virtual/online show. The teams will be given the challenge and the “secret ingredient” on 28 November, the first day of I/ITSEC, for integration into their solution for the final show. Then the teams will be invited to present their solutions at I/ITSEC on 1 December to the judges to determine the Best Overall Solution, Most Innovative Solution, and People’s Choice Solution – one team can win all three categories!

Review complete details via the Iron Dev Information and the Special Events Program. Sponsorships are available, contact Shannon Burch at sburch@NTSA.org for details.

Cyber Pavilion

Sponsorship Flyer: click here for details

NTSA Cyber Pavilion is where Cyber, Electromagnetic, and Information Warfare leaders collaborate to:

  • Educate the community on current programs/projects (e.g. Persistent Cyber Training Environment, Electronic Warfare Planning Management Tool (EWPMT), and others)
  • Communicate opportunities – (e.g. Electronic Warfare and Cyber at the Tactical Level, integration of capabilities into staffs, EW/Cyber/SIGINT Integration, Understanding Mis/Dis Information Campaigns, etc.)
  • Provide current operational unit requirements (US Army Cyber Command, Cyber Center of Excellence, 16th AF IW Command, Navy and Marines)
  • Capture the Flag Event – demonstration of skills

As the capabilities in these different fields continues to grow in each service, this pavilion will be a platform to help communicate and cooperate on finding solutions to this every changing environment for the not only the U.S. Government and Department of Defense, but other countries and commercial organizations. Senior leaders from many organizations will speak at the pavilion, get a better understanding of current capabilities, and assist in communicating the needs of their organizations and services – all part of the pavilion objectives.

View the Special Events Program for complete information about events happening in the Cyber Pavilion during I/ITSEC.

Next Big Thing

Sponsorship Flyer: click here for details

I/ITSEC, in coordination with NTSA, created the “Next Big Thing” forum to help organizations (Government, Industry, and Academia) position to realize high value from rapidly evolving technology. The Next Big Thing explores both a near term and a long term (3 – 5 year) horizon. For this year, the near term horizon is XR and the Military Metaverse where we enable the discussion to enable organizations to posture themselves to take advantage of the technological advancements. To collaborate on this, there are special events with impactful and recognize speakers presenting and discussing novel perspectives. We also established the inaugural I/ITSECverse which is a demonstration environment on the tradeshow floor to further help people understand the technology by experiencing it. To explore the long term horizon, we have a special event consisting of future thought leaders with interesting, unbounded perspectives on what the future will present for our community to factor in strategic positioning. This year we are achieving this with a fireside chat format special event moderated by the U.S. Army TRADOC’s Mad Scientist Initiative.

View the Special Events Program for complete information about the XR Acceleration Talx, XR Technical TalX, and the Innovation Megatrends event.

All events will be held at the OCCC, in an exciting modern room, setting the tone for the future!

Wrapping up the Next Big Thing Special Events on Wednesday will be a social networking event with hors d'oeuvres and beverages to network with speakers and others interested in XR and the Military Metaverse. You must attend a Next Big Thing Special Event to be invited to the reception.