Industry, military both benefit from technology event - Dayton Daily News

Industry and the Air Force came together April 3 for the annual Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Tech Expo in the Hope Hotel ballroom.

National Conferences Services Inc. brought 30, mostly small, businesses to the Wright-Patterson expo, sponsored by Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, so that they could make their pitches.

“We work at no cost to the government to bring industry and military together so they can find the companies and technologies that fit their mission capability gap,” said Emilee Leichman, NCSI Federal Event Division’s senior event manager.

Airmen ranging in rank from Airman 1st class, civilian to brigadier general roamed the hall, stopping at booths, talking to industry representatives and picking up small items of swag.

“We have 30 companies that are showcasing their products and services,” Leichman said, pointing out booths promoting fiber optics, information technology, vertical storage, structures and construction.

“And then we have cyber security, which is the big, hot topic right now,” she said.

One of the booths was manned by Brian Dees, representing One Vision Solutions, a company specializing in video-teleconferencing and audio-visual integration headquartered in Irving, Texas.

“What it does for us – we’re a small business – it gives us exposure to different customers, the missions they have, the applications they have and they get a chance to see what we do specifically,” Dees said.

He said his responsibilities within the company are the Air Force and Army accounts throughout the continental United States and he estimates that he attends approximately 30 such expos a year.

“We normally get good, qualified leads to go back and work with the customers. We give them technical solutions, which they can pursue through their acquisition channels and give us business opportunities,” Dees said.

He said he sees the tech expo as a great forum for industry and government to exchange information with each other.

Col. Lori Winn, 88th Communications Group commander, was among those strolling through the booths. She also saw value in the chance to talk with the industry representatives.

“It’s great to see what the folks here are bringing out, things that we are anticipating changes in. I’m here just to try to be able to plan and program for the latest technology,” Winn said.

“There’s a lot of information technology, some of it is cyber security that we are looking at – kind of taking it to the next level,” she added.

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