Operating at Speed in Technology Influenced Environments

February 2019 No Comments

“Operating at Speed in Technology Influenced Environments”

Speaker: Snow, J. (USSOCOM Donovan Group)

Date: 7 February 2019

Speaker Session Preview

SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Lt Col Jennifer “JJ” Snow (USSOCOM Donovan Group) as a part of its SMA General Speaker Series. Lt Col Snow began by stating that technology is advancing at an “exponential plus” rate. High-capability technologies are becoming increasingly accessible to individuals for a low price and with a low skill requirement, a small footprint, and a high level of signature reduction. Lt Col Snow provided a few examples of such technologies, while focusing on a series of do-it-yourself (DIY) tools, and spoke about hacking as a service at both the national and regional level. She then discussed a virtual nation called Bitnation and posed the following question: “What would happen if, in the future, we have a virtual, super-empowered nation, and individuals decide that the benefits that they have as a member of this virtual society exceed those of their physical society?” Lt Col Snow then focused on SOFWERX, a company designed to “overcome barriers and promote interagency collaboration.” She elaborated that SOFWERX provides a physical and virtual platform to allow individuals from across the globe to interact. It also offers a safe space for participants to engage in “messy” discussions about technology and security. She emphasized that SOFWERX is a 100% open source environment that includes all nations (except China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) and provides individuals with an opportunity to gather unique global insights and crowdsourced technologies. She then discussed SOFWERX’s Digital Citizen Network and presented some of its major accomplishments. Lastly, Lt Col Snow spoke about the USSOCOM J5 Donovan Group, whose goal is to “increase and accelerate access to networks across the Inter Agency and the private sector for the purpose of illuminating innovative ideas and solutions.” She concluded by outlining a few previous and upcoming events that the Donovan group has organized and highlighted its TechWatch newsletter as well.