FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3 September 2026
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Meg Geoghegan
Defense Innovation Days Offers Practical Roadmap for Accelerating Growth in Defense Sector
12th Convening Underscores Urgency in
Deploying Technology to the Warfighter
NEWPORT, R.I. – SENEDIA – The Alliance for Defense Tech, Talent, and Innovation, yesterday concluded its 12th Defense Innovation Days, New England’s signature national security event that attracted more than 400 of the most important decision makers and innovators in the defense industry. Across a dozen speakers and panels, attendees received practical procurement advice and guidance on how the sector can collectively accelerate development and deploy critical technology to the field faster.
“From cutting edge submarines to state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicles, Ocean State companies and workers are essential to building the tools, technologies, and manufacturing capacity that keeps America safe. I’m pleased to welcome national security experts and industry leaders from all over to Rhode Island for SENEDIA’s twelfth annual Defense Innovation Days summit. This forum is an opportunity for industry leaders to connect with Rhode Island-based companies, help showcase their capabilities, and create new partnerships that will benefit the state’s economy and America’s security,” said Senator Jack Reed, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “I’ve worked hard to ensure Rhode Island is a critical defense hub and I appreciate the outstanding contributions of SENEDIA for hosting this event, strengthening the state’s defense workforce, and helping to sustainably grow Rhode Island’s defense industry.”
Distinguished speakers joining Reed at the sold-out event represented decades of experience in the private and public sectors and armed services, including the Honorable Michael Cadenazzi, Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy; Ian Easton, Associate Professor at the China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College; RDML Kelly Ward, Director, Strategic Effects, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe/Africa, Commander, Task Force 66 (CTF-66); BG Chris Hackler, Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command; and CAPT Matthew Lewis, Acting Deputy Director of In-Service Submarines and Industrial Base.
Remarks were also provided by key state and federal leaders such as Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Panels included Strength Through Partnership, moderated by Gloria Berlanga, Vice President of Business Development at Rhode Island Commerce; Unmanned Vehicle Technology, moderated by CAPT Colin Corridan (Ret.), former U.S. Navy DCO, Task Force 59, along with RDML Ward and CMDR Thomas Wieland, Deputy Sector Commander, USCG Sector Southeastern New England; a panel on Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport, moderated by three-time Defense Innovation Days speaker Marie Bussiere, NUWC Newport’s Technical Director; and BG Christopher M. Burns, U.S. Army (Ret.), senior advisor VALENS Global.
Key takeaways from this year’s event:
- The U.S. defense industrial base is facing a critical workforce shortage, which requires intervention at every stage and entry point of the pipeline, from early career exploration and education to armed services to later stage professional development.
- The complexity of the current threat landscape demands greater urgency in developing technology and solutions and in building a culture of experimentation and flexibility to get those tools into the hands of warfighters more quickly.
- While Defense Innovation Days always explores challenges and opportunities in national security, this year’s event put practical guidance at the center and highlighted a continued effort to make it easier to do business in the industry and with the Department of War.
“New England is at the center of defense innovation, but as our impressive Defense Innovation Days speakers reinforced, we must do more and move faster to grow the workforce pipeline and foster greater collaboration across the supply chain,” said Stephen Guertin, Executive Director of SENEDIA. “I’m grateful to our speakers, sponsors, and guests, and especially to the hardworking team at SENEDIA, for making this event a success and creating meaningful opportunities for defense businesses and national security leaders to work together in service of our country.”
More from Defense Innovation Days
Building a Workforce for the Future
For the Honorable Michael Cadenazzi, Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, Defense Innovation Days was a homecoming. A Rhode Island native, he played on the Rogers High School undefeated football team and said that it was here in Newport that he learned to win.
“I want America to win,” he said, which requires growing the workforce. “We need a robust workforce. You can’t just buy your way out of this workforce problem. You have to build it.”
Cadenazzi recognized SENEDIA’s New England Submarine Shipbuilding Partnership as a valuable avenue for workforce development and pointed to the Department of War’s BuildFreedom.US as another key resource. In addition to workforce development, he called on businesses to bring forward disruptive and unconstrained ideas and for private businesses and investors to consider an increase in “patriotic capital” directed toward national security aims.
CAPT Lewis, too, highlighted the Partnership as a model for what works.
“Right here in New England, SENEDIA recently celebrated a monumental milestone of graduating its 10,000th trainee in the defense industrial base since 2021,” he said. “Think about the impact of that number for a moment: 10,000 skilled hands joining our shipbuilders and suppliers to build the shields of our republic.”
Opening the Door for Greater Collaboration
This year’s Defense Innovation Days went deep on practical and tactical guidance on procurement and how to engage with the Department of War and the services’ research and development and procurement organizations. On the Strength Through Partnership panel, Hiro Rodriguez, the Executive Director of the Advocacy Center in the U.S. Department of Commerce, called The Advocacy Center the “greatest kept secret in the U.S. government.”
“It helps create an important level playing field. We want you all to be able to compete globally,” he said.
Rodriguez’s team is working to reduce export compliance review periods and urged the audience to visit Trade.gov as a starting point. He was joined on the panel by Amir Koopaei, Director of Defence Procurement at the Embassy of Canada to the United States, and CMDR David Brannighan, Royal Navy, British Defence Staff USA, both of whom invited greater engagement with U.S. companies.
“Engage and engage early – don’t wait for a Request for Proposal to come out. Try to showcase your products to Canada and the government as soon as possible, because a stronger Canadian industrial base is also a stronger North America,” said Koopaei.
Speakers from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport also invited outreach and collaboration, highlighting their colleague Victor Ricci, the Principal Director for USW Innovation and Strategic Alliances, as a representative of the organization’s new “front door.”
“I’m not here with a sales pitch; I’m here with a partnership plan,” said Bussiere. “We are proposing embracing radical collaboration throughout our community.”
Getting the Right Tools and Tech to the Warfighter
Artificial intelligence is transforming the sector, but multiple speakers urged caution that AI and other emerging technology must be leveraged with the warfighter in mind.
“Does it really make things easier? It might be cool, it might be better, but for someone out in the field, what is the difference on the mission?” asked CMDR Wieland. “Our priorities are going to be first to the statutory missions that we have to meet.”
CAPT Corridan added that another question to consider is compatibility with existing systems.
“The warfighter does not want another screen to look at. You’ve got to be able to push it into the systems that already exist,” he said.
In developing technology and even traditional weapons and warfighting tools, BG Burns spoke about the importance of fast feedback loops, shrinking the time between development, deployment, and assessment, which goes back to growing the workforce and supply chain.
“How do we collaborate on behalf of the nation to give the best possible piece of equipment that’s needed?” he said. “Small businesses bring the speed. Medium bring execution at scale. The primes bring resources and reach. None of them solve the problem alone – none of them win this game in isolation.”
Thanks to Our Sponsors
Support for Defense Innovation Days 2026 came from Platinum Sponsors RTX, General Dynamics, and the Undersea Technology Innovation Consortium; Gold Sponsor Leidos; and Silver Sponsors Northrop Grumman, SAIC, Evans Group, and SEACORP.
Bronze Sponsors included Arcfield, AXIOTROP, LLC, Exail, Fleet Robotics, Globe Composite Solutions, Granite State Manufacturing, Kraken Robotics, L3Harris Technologies, McLaughlin Research Corporation, NeQter Labs, NIUVT, PacMar Technologies, ProteQ, REGENT, Saab, Inc., Serco, Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, and Vatn Systems; with Event Sponsorship from Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C., Anduril Industries, Rhode Island Commerce, and Astrodyne TDI.
Additional professional photographs of Defense Innovation Days are available for media outlets interested in sharing information about the event.
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SENEDIA, the Alliance for Defense Tech, Talent, and Innovation, is a catalyst for thought leadership, technical innovation, and workforce development. SENEDIA connects, convenes, and partners across the industry to support talent, innovation, and growth. For more information on SENEDIA, please visit www.SENEDIA.org.
