Technology and Military Ops, particulaly in the Naval Service sense, will be the point of a 4 day conference later this month in DC.

Capt Chris Christopher, Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Research, forwarded this heads up:

This is an update to my previous email regarding the 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference, July 31-August 3, at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC. This conference replaces the ONR conferences held since 2000 in Washington, DC.

The $1 Million “CNR Challenge” announced by ONR

Chief of Naval Research (CNR) Rear Admiral William E. Landay III, USN, has announced the $1 million “CNR Challenge” for innovative science and technology ideas brought to the Office of Naval Research during the 2006 Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference. The CNR Challenge is targeting $1 million for innovative ideas or technologies brought to ONR’s attention through the Open Innovation Marketplace at the Naval S&T Partnership Conference.

The Open Innovation Marketplace gives registered conference attendees the opportunity to schedule face-to-face meetings with personnel from ONR, other parts of the Naval Research Enterprise, industry, or academic institutions, to ask specific questions about naval science and technology research, or to present new and innovative concepts and technologies. Marketplace participants must submit an abstract in advance. More information on the Marketplace and conference registration
is available on the 2006 Naval Science and Technology Partnership Conference web site at http://www.ndia.org/meetings/6200/. More information about the CNR Challenge is available at http://www.onr.navy.mil/.

“There are always a number of good ideas coming to ONR through the Open Innovation Marketplace,” said Admiral Landay, “so I have allocated one million of our precious research dollars to more rapidly develop those ideas. One of the drawbacks in the Open Innovation Marketplace in the past was that we could not move out quickly on good ideas. Our budget process often causes a year or more delay before funds become available.

“If there are any good ideas that meet Navy or Marine Corps needs, we want to move very quickly to develop them. This should allow us to jumpstart ideas we receive through the Marketplace.”

2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference

Presented by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) with technical support from the Office of Naval Research, the 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference is the successor to, and builds upon the success of, the six annual partnership conferences previously presented by ONR. The 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference will provide key insight into
the Navy & Marine Corps drive to enable revolutionary naval operational concepts that meet the challenges of the 21st century through strategic investment in S&T research. The Conference will inform government, industry and academia of the direction, emphasis, and scope of the Department of the Navy’s investment in science and technology research, and how companies and universities can do business with the Naval Research Enterprise.

An impressive list of speakers has been announced for the event, highlighted by confirmed speakers Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter; the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Dr. Delores Etter; Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation Dr. Michael McGrath; Chief of Naval Research Rear Admiral William Landay III; and Commanding General, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command Brigadier General
Douglas Stone, USMC. Additional speaker announcements will be made in the days to come to come.

In three and one-half days of the Conference, attendees from government, industry, and academia will:

* Hear from the senior leadership of Congress, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, the Office of Naval Research, and the Naval Research Enterprise
* Gain an understanding of S&T research partnership opportunities for industry and academia
* Meet one-on-one with program managers from ONR and across the Naval Research Enterprise, including Naval laboratories, Naval warfare centers, and University Affiliated Research Centers in the Open Innovation Marketplace.
* Learn how to participate in the challenge to creative innovative solutions to meet Fleet and Force requirements in the Future Naval Capabilities (FNC), Innovative Naval Prototypes (INP), and Discovery and Invention (D&I) efforts;
* See and discuss innovative technologies from industry, National and Federal labs, and academia in the conference exhibit hall.
* Enjoy stimulating scientific debate and discussion at Ben Franklin’s Scientific Salon.

In a one-half day training session before the Conference opens, industry and academic attendees will learn how to do business with ONR and the Naval Research Enterprise. The theme of the 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference is “The Navy After Next…Powered by Naval Research.” The challenges of providing power and energy to the Fleet and Force will be
in the spotlight, and speakers from all segments of the energy industry will be invited to participate in discussions that will focus of the potential future sources of power and energy to enable the Navy-Marine Corps team to execute its mission in the 21st century. NDIA is presenting a gala dinner to salute 60 years of world class S&T research by ONR.

Information

Information on attending and exhibiting at the Conference is available on the NDIA Conference web site at http://www.ndia.org/meetings/6200 , or at the ONR web site http://www.onr.navy.mil/.

Sounds like a great opportunity to “get an oar in the water” with the future of the Navy. Any takes?

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post.