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Tysons, Virginia: World’s Epicenter of Quantum Sept. 26-28

Join us to experience the second annual Quantum World Congress, a premier global event that shapes and drives the transformation toward a quantum-powered future. Taking place from September 26-28, 2023 at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia, this highly anticipated conference, exposition, and networking extravaganza will unite visionaries and experts from all corners of the quantum ecosystem and the world. Together, we will tackle urgent challenges, delve into emerging trends, and exchange valuable insights that will propel the acceleration and commercialization of quantum technologies.

REGISTER NOW to lock in your early bird discount before August 7, 2023.

Announcing 2023 Plenary Speaker, U.S. National Science Foundation’s Dr. Erwin Gianchandani

Exciting progress is happening across the range of quantum information science fields, with new discoveries and breakthroughs laying the foundation for a quantum-enabled future. The U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) long history of supporting fundamental quantum information science combined with last year’s launch of the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships directorate puts the agency in a unique position to leverage dynamic partnerships, build the foundation for a next-generation quantum workforce, and foster transformative quantum-enabled benefits for society.

At this year’s Quantum World Congress, join plenary speaker, Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, Assistant Director of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Gianchandani is leading the newly established TIP Directorate to explore the future of quantum innovation and how technology, innovation, and partnerships will drive new advances for a quantum-powered world.

Call for Quantum Experts

Programming will take many forms — from presentations and panels to fireside chats and networking sessions. Thought leaders in quantum technology are invited to submit an application to speak at Quantum World Congress to address pressing challenges and emerging trends and share insights that help to accelerate and commercialize quantum technologies. The benefits of speaking at Quantum World Congress would include the opportunity to address a global audience, build new connections, showcase your value proposition, and become a driver of change.

For more information, please visit quantumworldcongress.com.

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MITRE to host “Harnessing the Power of Economics to Solve Whole of Nation Challenges” conference Sept. 6

MITRE Corporation is calling for participants for its “Harnessing the Power of Economics to Solve Whole of Nation Challenges” conference on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. With keynote speaker Dr. Emily Blanchard, Chief Economist, U.S. Department of State, the conference will be held at its co-headquarters locations in McLean, Virginia and Bedford, Massachusetts, as well as via Teams Meeting.

Click here to register to attend this free conference.

This conference will join MITRE economists with speakers and panelists from government, academia, and industry to examine the role of economics in collaboratively solving whole-of-nation challenges. A Whole of Nation challenge is one in which maximum U.S. societal benefits can only be achieved through partnership across applicable agencies at the federal, state, tribal, territorial, and/or local government levels and/or with academia and/or industry engagement. MITRE seeks to serve as a catalyst to foster collaborative cross-sector research, drive innovation, and inform decision-makers.

Topics include climate, transportation, supply chain, public health, digital currency, and the economics of AI.

MITRE is currently soliciting submissions of abstracts for poster displays of relevant research. MITRE wants to feature a diverse selection of work from MITRE, government, academia, and industry, where economic thought or methods were, or could potentially be applied to problems of national interest. To submit an abstract by August 4, 2023, please click here.

MITRE will provide free lobby space for vendor tables. Government agencies or offices, academic institutions or departments, associated research centers, and industry companies or organizations are welcome to inquire. To apply to reserve a table by August 18, 2023, please click here.

For more information, please visit MITRE.org.

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Weekly Business News Digest

High marks: The Greater Washington D.C. region ranked  no. 4 in the nation for tech talent by CBRE for the second consecutive year on its recently released eleventh annual Scoring Tech Talent 2023 report, technical.ly reported. The region’s high marks are attributed to the size of its tech workforce and educational infrastructure, including how many college students graduate with tech degrees. The report showed that the region has a total of 265,240 tech talent employees, making it a large market. The labor pool has also grown by 7 percent from 2017 to 2022. Colin Yasukochi, executive director of the CBRE Tech Insights Center, said the reason for the region’s consistent place in the top five can be attributed to the size of its tech workforce and educational infrastructure — specifically, how many college students graduate with tech degrees. “The region also receives a lot of R&D funding from the government that goes to those local universities to help foster innovation,” Yasukochi said.

Best workplaces for millennials: Seven Fairfax County-based companies landed on the annual Fortune Best Workplaces for Millennials 2023 list. The honorees in the large company category are: no. 4: Hilton (Tysons); no. 5: Modern Technology Solutions (Alexandria/Fairfax County area); no. 20: Capital One (Tysons); no. 44: Collaborative Solutions (Reston); and no. 99: Navy Federal Credit Union (Vienna). The companies in the small/medium category are: no. 17: Expel (Herndon); no. 50: The Informatics Applications Group (Reston). In addition.  two companies based in additional Northern Virginia Economic Development Alliance jurisdictions placed on the list, both in the small company category: no. 25: Highlight Technologies (Fairfax City) and no. 96: IntraFi Network (Arlington). To determine the honorees, Great Place To Work collected nearly 500,000 responses from millennials at companies from across the U.S. eligible for the list. To be considered, companies had to be Great Place To Work Certified and have at least 50 millennial employees in the U.S. Honorees were selected based on their ability to offer positive outcomes for employees regardless of job role, race, gender, sexual orientation, work status, or other demographic identifier. “Millennial” is a term for the generation typically defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. Looking to start your career or for your next job? Check out workinnorthernvirginia.com to see listings at these companies and many others.

Blast off! NASA’s next Antares launch is scheduled for 8:31 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Aug. 1, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, according to NASA.gov. The evening launch may be visible, weather permitting, to residents throughout the mid-Atlantic region and possibly the East Coast of the United States. This will be Falls Church area based Northrop Grumman’s 19th commercial resupply services mission for NASA, delivering science investigations, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Viewing locations include Wallops Island Visitor’s Center; Chincoteague Island; Assateague Island National Seashore; Ocean City; the Delaware Seashore; and Virginia Beach. Live launch coverage and countdown commentary will begin at 8 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 1, and air on NASA Television and the agency’s website, as well as YouTube, Twitter, and the NASA’s App.  For more information and to find out more on where to watch the launch click here.

Innovation collaboration: The Israel-US Binational Industrial R&D Foundation (BIRD) approved $8 million in funding for nine innovative projects between U.S. and Israeli companies in various technological sectors, reported The Jerusalem Post. The total investment in these projects, including private-sector funding, amounts to $23 million. The approved projects cover areas such as agrotech, biotech, electronics, foodtech, medical devices, and quantum technology. The companies include collaboration between Israel-based ContainerEyes and Tysons-based NTELX to develop a real-time tracking and risk analysis service to increase food safety and reduce food loss when it is being shipped.

Detecting drone activity: The U.S. Air Forces Central and U.S. Army Central led an operational capability test of MITRE‘s CARPE Dronvm smartphone application for detecting suspicious drone activity, reported ExecutiveGov. The app was tested in a 50-kilometer flight from McEntire Joint National Guard Base to Poinsett Weapons Range in South Carolina. CARPE Dronvm is designed to alert users, and enable them to report, about the presence of suspicious counter-unmanned aerial systems. Army Maj. Travis Valley, USARCENT Task Force 39 operations officer, said the live test was the largest conducted to date. “Carpe Dronvm has the potential to provide real time, crowd-sourced data about small, unmanned aerial systems to military decision makers around the globe. Using CD, we can increase our detection capabilities and our ability to protect service members on the future battlefield,” Maj. Valley said.

Aircraft platform partnership: Reston-based Leidos and L3Harris Technologies, which has locations in Fairfax County, agreed to jointly propose an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft platform to the U.S. Army’s Theater Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne – Signals Intelligence program, according to GovConWire. Leidos said the partnership intends to equip two of Bombardier’s Global 6500 business jets with communications and sensor systems for the companies’ ATHENA-S bid. The ATHENA-S program is seeking a new airborne platform with a larger payload capacity, better endurance and an increased standoff range.

Future of air traffic management: A group led by Tysons-based Spire Global won European Space Agency funds to develop a satellite to demonstrate a civil aviation tracking constellation that would not rely on GPS, or any other global navigation satellite system vulnerable to interference, SpaceNews reported. The project intends to design and demonstrate the viability of a novel system that uses a satellite constellation to track aircraft by determining their exact position based on different times of arrivals of radio frequency (RF) signals, a technology known in the aviation industry as multilateration. Spire will develop the mission and system design for an operational satellite constellation and then design, deploy and operate a demonstrator mission that proves the performance of the service and its critical technologies. “Space-based aircraft tracking and geolocation is the future of air traffic management to ensure safe, secure and sustainable air travel at a global scale,” said Peter Platzer, CEO, Spire Global.

Evolving connectivity needs: Tysons-based Iridium Communications, a provider of global voice and data satellite communications, announced the introduction of its Iridium Certus aviation commercial service, providing a secure cockpit domain with reliable voice and data capabilities. This expands the availability and certification of Iridium Connected aviation solutions for commercial transport aircraft, business aviation, helicopters, private aircraft, and uncrewed aircraft systems, according to Military+Aerospace Electronics. “Iridium’s first-generation voice and data solutions are installed on over 60,000 aircraft today and have been critical for flight safety and relied upon by pilots and airlines for years,” said John Peterson, executive director of aviation, Iridium. “As the preferred solution for a wide range of aviation applications, from drones to airliners, Iridium Certus is ready to support the industry’s evolving connectivity needs.”

Inspiring younger talent: Reston-based CACI International showcased its suite of counter-unmanned aircraft systems during a technology demonstration event hosted by Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a Fairfax County Public School that is the no. 1 top-ranked public school in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report. Techstravaganza participants got the opportunity to witness how CACI’s SkyTracker Technology Suite works to protect assets from the threat of drone swarms and support national security missions. CACI sponsored the event for students to learn about the contributions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to national security. “We are helping to drive and inspire younger talent to discover a path into national security by exposing them to potential careers in STEM, which is a critical need for our business and our customers,” said Todd Probert, president of national security and innovative solutions at CACI. ExecutiveBiz has more.

Changing the frozen food game: Virginia Venture Partners, the equity investment program of Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), announced an investment in Tysons-based 8Myles, which  provides clean and quality frozen comfort food. 8Myles will use this investment to continue the expansion of this product in retail spaces. Since Virginia Venture Partner’s first investment in 8Myles, the company completed its rebrand to Myles Comfort Foods, according to EIN News. “The 8Myles team is changing the frozen food game,” said Tom Weithman, VIPC Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director of Virginia Venture Partners. “It is really important to have convenient and healthy options available for busy families and individuals. We are proud of their growth and success and excited to see how they continue to make healthy foods the standard.”

Black Restaurant Week: There’s still time to participate in Greater D.C.’s Black Restaurant Week, which runs through the end of July. Nearly 100 Black food businesses located around the Greater Washington, D.C. region are participating as part of a nationwide campaign to celebrate and increase sales at Black-owned eateries. Click here to find out about the notable participating restaurants. Washingtonian has more.

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Contract Wins

Science Applications International Corp. (Reston) received a $91 million contract to update hardware and software for the U.S. Navy’s V-22 aircraft logistics information technology system. GovConWire

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August 17 — GovFuture Forum. Attend GovFuture Forum, a monthly demo and panel event where government innovators, technologists, thought leaders, movers-and-shakers, government ecosystem partners, and interested people see showcases on cool new technology in a demo format, learn from innovators in high-value panels, and interact with each other. Click here to see the agenda, featured speakers and to register.

September 12 — Entrepreneurship 101: Starting a Business in Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority hosts Entrepreneurship 101, or “E-101,” a bi-monthly workshop that features a panel of small business experts on how to start a business. Presented by the FCEDA, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD), the Community Business Partnership (CBP) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the workshop provides an overview of business start-up fundamentals.  Click here to register.

September 21 — Northern Virginia Space & Satellite Summit. Join the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce’s International Business Council at their Space & Satellite event at Womble Bond Dickinson in Tysons. Speakers will include: David Bettinger, CEO, Axta Space Team; Dennis Gatens, CEO and Founder, LEOCloud; George Nield, President, Commercial Space Technologies; and Stephen McCall, Director of Government Relations, Firefly Aerospace. The main objectives of this seminar are to provide insights about the current ecosystem of space and satellite assets and industry in the Dulles region; and to delve into the aspects of the commercialization of the space sector and discuss challenges and opportunities. Click here to register.

September 21 — GovFuture Forum. Attend GovFuture Forum, a monthly demo and panel event where government innovators, technologists, thought leaders, movers-and-shakers, government ecosystem partners, and interested people see showcases on cool new technology in a demo format, learn from innovators in high-value panels, and interact with each other. Click here to see the agenda, featured speakers and to register.

September 26-28, 2023 – Quantum World Congress 2023. Quantum World Congress 2023 will once again bring together leaders from across the quantum ecosystem around the globe to address pressing challenges and emerging trends and share insights that help to accelerate and commercialize quantum technologies. Programming will take many forms — from presentations and panels to fireside chats and networking sessions. QWC will enable relevant, timely, and industry-leading information sharing and relationship building across these formats to foster a responsible environment for quantum growth. QWC 2023 will be held at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Virginia. REGISTER NOW to lock in your early bird discount before August 7, 2023.