Deputy Principal Cyber Advisor for the Department of the Navy Joshua Reiter broke down the seven lines of effort within the service’s cyber strategy and its shift from a mindset of strict compliance to one of cyber readiness.

The Department of the Navy previously thought of cybersecurity as a traditional IT problem, but now is expanding its view to include operational security and industrial control systems.

“The hardware doesn’t run itself without the humans, and the humans take the longest to train and are the most difficult to maintain,” Reiter told GovCIO Media & Research.

Coast Guard Deputy CIO and Chief Data and AI Officer Brian Campo highlighted how the four-year tech revolution reshaped the Coast Guard’s investments in technology.

The revolution analyzed how the Coast Guard could integrate new technologies within the CJADC2 landscape, adapt existing ships and tech to the current landscape, and build a secure zero trust-based cyber posture across the enterprise.

5G might be a mainstay in commercial telecommunications, but leaders in the Defense Department are looking at unique use cases for the emerging technology that can synchronize with emerging innovations like artificial intelligence.

Companies like Verizon are working with bases to set up new infrastructure that accommodates 5G connectivity, David Rouse, leader of Verizon’s Department of Defense and National Security global sales organization explained.

Dwayne Florenzie, cyber senior project manager at the Defense Innovation Unit, highlighted the burgeoning use cases for 5G in private networks, mesh networks and lower latency communications in low-connectivity environments.

Florenzie discussed how DIU is accelerating partnerships and collaboration across the agency’s technology portfolios.

Indopacom J2 CTO Ben Needles highlighted how the service is integrating, testing and using AI in operations on and off the battlefield. Needles discussed how the emerging technology gives a decision advantage to commanders, but also needs to be folded into collaborations with coalition partners.

“The challenge that we run into is that you’re going to have uneven capabilities across all of those allies and partners,” Needles told GovCIO Media & Research. “How we are able to leverage technology to even that playing field where we can while providing the security that we need becomes a critical piece for us.”

Partnering with other nations will be critical around new and emerging cybersecurity policies like zero trust, according to Indopacom Cyberspace Operations – Integrated Planning Element (CO-IPE) Director Capt. Ron Arellano.

Arellano told GovCIO Media & Research that Indopacom is working toward integrating the whole range of cyber operations into everything it does, while also bridging gaps between local governments, federal agencies and international partners throughout the region.

“Knowing that a lot of what we do and the systems that we set up are dependent upon the local telecoms, the local power plants, ensuring that they’re safe is just as high a priority as much as we’re safe,” Arellano said.