When the Department of Defense decides to showcase the latest technology, vendors line up to be included. And when the showcase is in the form of the Software Technology Conference, currently running at the Salt Palace Convention Center, thousands of government, industry and academic representatives stop by to look and learn.
While the 175-plus vendors admit they hope to sell their technology to the government, universities or others, the real goal of the international conference is to "share information on technology," according to Michael Siedlecki, a civilian who works for the U.S. Navy and helped plan the conference.It's not just about the cutting-edge hardware and software available.
The conference also features more than 100 presentations representing some of the best thinking on topics from security to information warfare, system-management software testing and open standards.
Choosing the featured technical information involved representatives from every area under the aegis of the Department of Defense, which looked at nearly 600 abstracts to choose which ones should be included.
Emphasis, according to Siedlecki, is placed on high-tech, state-of-the-art information first. But "we also consider if it will be presented in a way that will be used by the practitioner."
The conference this year bears the title "Software and Systems -- Managing Risk, Complexity, Compatibility and Change." It's co-hosted by the Ogden Air Logistics Center/CC and the Air Force Software Technology Support Center.
The departments of the Air Force, Army, Navy and the Defense Information Systems Agency did the primary planning.
The show began 12 years ago, sponsored by Hill Air Force Base, as a way to share technology information.
In both the breakout sessions and the technology showcase, three concepts were repeated over and over: "real time," "security" and "integration."
The technology showcase focused not only on making things work that might not normally work together but also on taking a concept and making it happen.
And dozens of those companies are working, both individually and together, to make it happen.
Both "real time" and "security" are key issues for the military, most vendors agreed.
Exhibitors included Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, PeopleSoft, Tivoli Systems and about 170 others.
The Software Technology Conference, which opened April 30, will end May 5. The technology showcase segment of the conference runs through Wednesday.
You can reach Lois M. Collins by e-mail at lois@desnews.com