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iFEST 2021

Learning and Thriving in the New Normal

August 31, 2021 - September 2, 2021

Online Conference

iFEST artwork

Mark your calendars for 31 August – 2 September to join us virtually for iFEST 2021.

A year of dramatic shifts in online education and training have made iFEST 2021 a must-participate conference for the distributed learning community. iFEST brings together senior officials and innovators from government, industry, and academia for this three-day online conference to discuss new solutions for the new normal. If you have a role or interest in education and training modernization, you’ll want to be part of iFEST 2021.

In addition, conference attendees can enjoy a live-streamed War on the Rocks (WOTR) panel centered around learning modernization for PME that will be recorded live on 31 August and will also be recorded for the popular WOTR podcast.

What Can You Expect at iFEST?

Keynote Speakers artwork Featured Panels artwork Live Activities artwork On-demand Content artwork Live-streamed Podcast artwork

iFEST 2021 Keynote Speakers

Rep. Robert C. Bobby Scott
Legislative Keynote
Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Chairman, House Committee on Education and Labor

MG Donn Hill
Military Keynote
Major General Donn H. Hill, Deputy Commanding General – Education (DCG-E), Provost Army University, and Deputy Commandant Command and General Staff College

Dustin Brown SES
Government Keynote
Dustin Brown, Deputy Assistant Director, Office of Management and Budget

Learning, Development, and Data…on the Rocks!
Tuesday, 31 August, 3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m. EDT

The Federal government, and in particular the Department of Defense, is prioritizing workforce, technology, and data modernization goals. Specific projects address topics like employee upskilling and reskilling, military personnel credentialing, technology-enabled training, next-generation wargaming, enterprise shared services, data interoperability, and AI-informed talent management. But these aren’t independent lines of effort. There’s a convergence of learning, development, technology, and data that’s heralding a fundamental change in how DoD educates, trains, prepares, and manages its military and civilian workforce.

The concept of an AI-informed, data-centric, hire-to-retire continuum of learning is fast becoming a reality, and with it, new questions are forming—from policy and ethics to agility and overmatch. In this panel, senior leaders will discuss the challenges, implications, and promise of modernizing learning and development in the DoD and beyond. How will these advancements contribute to readiness? How will new approaches in talent management affect the composition of the force? What might professional military education look like in an unfettered, modernized future state? What are the risks if this momentum falters, and we’re left with today’s training, education, and workforce systems?

Maj. Gen. Andrea D. Tullos
Maj. Gen. Andrea D. Tullos
Deputy Commander, Air Education and Training Command

BG Charles T. Lombardo
BG Charles T. Lombardo
Deputy Commanding General, CAC–T, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center

Hon. Alan R. Shaffer
Hon. Alan R. Shaffer
Regent, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies and former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment

Ryan Evans, CEO of War on the Rocks, will host a 90-minute panel as part of a live recording of the War on the Rocks podcast.

Agenda

View a Recap of Last Year’s iFEST:

Artwork of Last Year's iFEST
4:52
Event PDF Agenda