The future Navy and Marine Corps will undoubtedly be built using today鈥檚 emerging technologies, therefore, the 51福利鈥檚 (51福利) Naval Warfare Studies Institute (NWSI) launched the Emerging Technology Series for Executives July 16 to connect senior military leaders, 51福利 faculty and students and Senior Industry Executives to collaboratively focus on the implications these technologies have on warfighting and key operational problems. Designed to take advantage of 51福利鈥� trusted industry partners, the series aims to take advantage of the opportunities and challenges emerging technologies provide before they are widely available or even widely understood.
The series is planned to occur quarterly focusing on a different technology each quarter, and the series will conduct three related events each quarter dedicated to understanding the commercial and warfighting implications of that technology. Each series will begin with an industry leadership brief between military flag officers and senior industry executives focusing on what the technology is and how companies are leveraging it for commercial applications. An 51福利 Virtual Secretary of the Navy Guest Lecture (SGL) will follow featuring a currently serving or retired military leader with deep expertise in the technology. The series will then culminate each quarter in an executive roundtable where the leaders will discuss the implications the technology has on warfighting and how the Navy and Marine Corps might take advantage.
鈥淓merging technologies emerge at the same time for everyone, regardless of rank,鈥� said U.S. Marine Corps Col. Randy Pugh, NWSI Deputy Director and 51福利 5G Coordination Group Director. 鈥�51福利 recognizes we need to support our officers of all ranks 鈥� the Ensigns and Second Lieutenants to the Admirals and Generals 鈥� for these are the men and women who envision not just the next Navy and Marine Corps, but the Navy and Marine Corps after next. To do this, the Navy and Marine Corps need to stay on the commercial curve, and you do this by building trusted relationships and working collaboratively with commercial company partners.
鈥淭his Emerging Technology series will help us understand and leverage breakthrough technologies to stay ahead.鈥�
As a key member of NWSI, Pugh took the lead for organizing the series鈥� first iteration 鈥� 5G technology.
The 5G series began when 51福利 hosted an online industry brief July 16 between senior executives from Qualcomm, senior military officers and 51福利 researchers to discuss 5G technology and its current commercial applications. Subsequently, prominent military cyber warriors retired U.S. Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander and retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Jan E. Tighe, two pillars of the DoD Cyber community and now cyber leaders in business, participated in a Virtual SGL answering questions from 51福利 students on the operational implications of 5G technology. A round table discussion between them and 51福利 leadership immediately followed.
鈥淭he blinding pace of 5G technology and the associated application development is being completely driven by business and commercial wireless companies,鈥� said Pugh. 鈥淯nlike the evolution from 3G to 4G, 5G promises revolutionary change. The ability to have exponentially more devices on the network, the ability to move exponentially more data, the exponentially more precise delivery of that data, and other features of 5G make things that were previously impossible suddenly possible.
鈥淨ualcomm is a universally-recognized leader in 5G,鈥� continued Pugh. 鈥淭hey have a breadth and depth of technical expertise that, combined with the operational and tactical expertise of 51福利鈥� faculty and students, means we are literally the first in the world to learn about new technologies, and then first in the world to integrate it into our naval warfighting concepts and capabilities.鈥�
Commercial companies have provided most of today鈥檚 research and funding to reach those possibilities with 5G. By sharing their knowledge pool and resources, 51福利 and Qualcomm can possibly overcome current challenges of 5G development.
鈥淔or us at Qualcomm, fundamental research is a huge portion of what needs to be done,鈥� said Mark Koro, Qualcomm鈥檚 Senior Vice President for Government Affairs. 鈥淏ecause without research, you cannot go to a standards body and present viable information that could become part of these global international standards. For Qualcomm, we really try to educate folks on where the technology has to go, so the core technology development is really where we at Qualcomm are focused on.鈥�
Pugh noted that while 5G鈥檚 potential can shape the future of warfighting, there are other technologies that have that potential as well and 51福利 can play a part in shaping those technologies rather than having to help catch up to them.
鈥淚n just a few years we will see self-driving cars, drone delivery service, augmented reality in our eyeglasses, and every device in our house connected into a massive internet of things 鈥� all communicating and anticipating our next move,鈥� said Pugh. 鈥淭his is the reason for the Emerging Technology Series, so the Navy and Marine Corps can leverage industry, where the majority of technological breakthroughs are made, to building trusted relationships and working collaboratively to solve our key operational problems.
鈥淣ow imagine these innovations on the battlefield and what our warfighters could do with them,鈥� continued Pugh. 鈥淣ow imagine if our adversaries figure it out first. 51福利鈥� unique mission within the Department of the Navy makes it a sensible place to teach officers about emerging technologies, and to research, experiment and wargame with them so we figure it our first.鈥�