ABSTRACT
Global Defense and Intelligence organizations are faced with adapting and responding to the challenge of a rapidly changing geo-political environment and the emergence, at pace, of disruptive technologies. Organizations that can respond with agility and quickly leverage new technologies to aid their need to collect, analyze, make sense of, and disseminate massive amounts of data (across the continuum from the edge to the HQ) will gain decision superiority. Mature Defense and Intelligence organizations are therefore looking to improve their own ability to utilize modern commercial technologies to counter this dilemma.
The growth in Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities is driving maturity in sensors, data gathering, analysis and visualization, all of which can be delivered at the tactical edge for deployed forces. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing capability and sophisticated simulation techniques are being allied to new and evolving technologies, such as 5G and space communications, which together have the potential to revolutionize mission capability.
This session will shine a light on these new and emerging capabilities that are available to Defence to meet their mission objectives at the tactical edge. This will include the use of a range of cognitive services, the exploitation of 5G and space communications and the infrastructure available to extend cloud services to the edge. The session will also provide insights into how Defence can establish a single, secure continuum to underpin Defence’s information needs, from the HQ to the edge and across security classifications.
BIOGRAPHY
Arthur Thomas (A.T.) Ball has served for nine years as the Senior Director in Asia for Microsoft’s Defense and Intelligence (D&I) business. A.T. joined Microsoft after a distinguished career in the United States Army where his career was marked by service and operations with military, intelligence and homeland security organizations. A.T.’s primary role for Microsoft is to own and execute, in partnership with the field teams in subsidiaries across the region, the World- Wide D&I industry strategies and business plan across Asia. He lives and works out of Singapore and travels extensively to meet with D&I entities and Microsoft partners in the region.
Prior to his arrival at Microsoft, A.T. was a career military officer and aviator. His 30-year military career included challenging command, staff, and special operations leadership assignments which included leading operational elements in combat, domestic security and disaster responses. He culminated his career as the Deputy Chief of Staff, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USINDOPACOM consists of over 330,000 U.S. military personnel from all services, spanning half the globe and containing 7 of the world’s 10 largest military powers. It is the primary headquarters (HQ) for maintaining critical security relationships between the US and 36 nations in the Pacific, as well as, responding to natural and man-made disasters across the region.
Previous assignments included serving as the Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Pacific. In this capacity, he led the digital transformation of a legacy, non-deployable Theater Army HQ into an operational Command and Control node with a deployable, fully networked Command Post. He was also charged with organizing and leading a standing Joint Task Force to respond to natural or manmade disasters and other intelligence-based threats to the homeland for all US states, territorial possessions in the Pacific, as well as, the newly independent Compact Nations of Palau, FSM and RMI. His career is also uniquely populated with time spent seconded to other government agencies and orchestrating multi-agency security operations in support of foreign and domestic special activities.
A distinguished aviator and experimental test pilot, A.T. developed extensive operational knowledge and expertise while partnering with military forces and intelligence forces around the globe. He commanded the 25th Infantry Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), deploying to Iraq for a 15-month combat tour. While deployed, he led the tactical systems engineering effort to develop a composite organization of nonstandard manned and unmanned aircraft, named “Task Force ODIN,” utilizing “network centric” warfare to great effects. His work in this field led to the IT industry’s Wired Magazine naming him as one of the top 15 people President Obama should speak to before taking office in a feature article in 2008.
A.T. Ball participated in multiple international humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts around the globe while in uniform, highlighted by leading the US multi-agency response to the Fukishima disaster in Japan. He is an experienced operational practitioner in combat operations, planning, intelligence, operations center and staff management, disaster management and risk management.