ELC to feature mobility, big data

Leaders of the federal IT community are heading to Colonial Williamsburg, Va., for the 2012 Executive Leadership Conference. The three-day event, which starts on Sunday, Oct. 28, will focus this year on mobility, workforce and big data.

The annual ELC is organized by the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council and draws thousands of attendees every year. This year’s plenary session speakers include Steven VanRoekel, U.S. CIO, Dan Tangherlini, acting administrator at the General Services Administration, and David Wennergren, assistant deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department.

This year’s conference theme “charting a course” alludes to government and industry navigating through dramatic changes over the past decade. Kelly O’Donnell, political reporter at NBC News, will kick off the Monday sessions with a morning keynote. The lunchtime presentation will focus on the Quadrennial Government Technology Review, followed by afternoon tracks and networking reception.

The ELC Awards round off the evening with U.S. Army Col Gregory Gadson, Fort Belvoir garrison commander, delivering a keynote. The banquet honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to ACT-IAC and the federal IT community during the prior year. In 2011, Craig Luigart, CIO at the Veterans Health Administration,received the Janice K. Mendenhall Spirit of Leadership Award – one of four honors to be presented at the awards.

Tuesday’s sessions begin with a morning presentation by VanRoekel and Jim Cheng, secretary of commerce and trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia. That session is followed by a fireside chat with several government officials, including Mary Armstead, acting associate director of the National Institute of Health Office of Logistics and Acquisition Policy Management, and Lisa Schlosser, federal deputy CIO.

The conference wraps up around noontime with a CXO Town Hall featuring NASA CIO Linda Cureton, Mary Davie, acting commissioner at the Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration, and Wennergren participating.

Last year, sessions and keynotes heavily focused on mobile and cloud, and the innovation within the realms. Panelists and speakers raised – and sometimes answered-- questions about mobile technologies: How to build trust in an increasingly interconnected world? How to best manage mobile employees? How can a mobile workforce best do its job and get the tools it needs?

A panel also explored what would soon emerge on the mobile technology side and some of the challenges in adding devices to the networks. Tod Sizer, vice president of the Wireless Research Lab at Bell Labs, showcased the “lightRadio” cube -- a palm-sized device that operates like a portable cell phone tower.

More information about the 2012 event, including agenda and tracks, can be found on ACT-IAC’s website.