O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference 2005: "Session
Military E-Tech
JC Herz, Author and Defense Researcher/Consultant

Date: Thursday, March 17
Time: 9:15am - 9:30am
Location: California Ballroom

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The United States Defense Department has a technology fetish and seemingly limitless amounts of money. How are emerging technologies (social software, untethered devices, web services, and computer games) being combined with the conventional superpower technology (satellites, sensors, aircraft carriers) to take military transformation from rhetoric to reality? What are soldiers doing that's straight out of science fiction--and what's mostly hype? How do web services disrupt the business model of the military industrial complex?

What's happening to the culture of the armed forces as 20-something soldiers, used to blogging and digital cameras, confront a hierarchy that's barely comfortable typing? What does the recent spate of military blogs (and the occasional crackdown) tell us?

And lastly, how can small teams of programmers hack hardware and software for Navy Seals, Green Berets, and Delta Force operators--without getting crushed or exploited by Beltway Bandits? An insider shares all that can be revealed, subject to classification."