The North Carolina Defense Technology Transition Office (DEFTECH) is taking every possible opportunity to help prepare businesses for the Third Annual Federal Technology Symposium (FTS), returning to the Fayetteville Technical Community College campus at the Tony Rand Student Center on Aug. 6, 2024. 

Formerly known as the Defense Technology Symposium, the FTS will highlight the advanced technology needs of major military commands in North Carolina and give local businesses and contractors the opportunity to fill those needs with their products or services. 

To help businesses prepare, DEFTECH has been utilizing their Coffee Call Series to prepare businesses on the best way to present themselves and their services to potential government buyers.   

The DEFTECH Coffee Call series is an in person and virtual way to engage with experts, expand your network and gain insights with themed speakers that takes place every Friday. 

July 12 marked the first in the “Road to War” series, an informative series of Coffee Calls being used as a “roadmap for catalyzing defense innovation and optimizing your engagement with the federal government” during this year’s FTS and beyond. 

“Before each event for about a month, I'll do a ramp up to the actual event. We've seen in other places they focus so much on just the event that when the event is over, you're like ‘Oh man, it's over. Now what?’ Well, not only do we have a ramp up to the event to build awareness, to answer questions, to build marketing and integration of different organizations, but also we’ll have a debrief afterwards along with a Warfighter Experience,” shared DEFTECH Director Bob Burton. 

Upcoming parts of the “Road to War” preparation series include an in person Coffee Call on July 26, celebrating the event's fourth anniversary and a Tech Protect Workshop at Fayetteville Technical Community College taking place on Aug. 5 a day before the symposium. 

“We're going to have a workshop; the Patent and Trademark Office, the National Security Innovation Network, the Army, DEVCOM, a lot of these players will be in town. We asked them to come in just a little bit early, attend this Tech Protect Workshop, where we're going to lay out ‘What are the threats?’ And ‘What are the things that we can do across the state of North Carolina to protect our intellectual property, our cybersecurity and then understand the counterintelligence threat landscape,’” said Burton. 

During all of these events, the DEFTECH team (now expanded) has been working to utilize their technology scouting program called TIDE: Technology, Innovation, Demonstration and Experimentation. The TIDE Program is used as a scouting mechanism to recruit booths at FTS and for this year’s symposium Shark Tank event. Businesses can also use it in general when approaching government contractors. 

The program features a “One Page White Paper” approach outlining intricate details of a company or business quickly and cleanly such as: operational relevance, capability description, impact, technical approach and more. It also uses a four block ‘Scout Card’ to break down a problem and offer details of a potential solution. 

“The TIDE Program is a continuous tech counting methodology for the state of North Carolina. It is a whole lifecycle technology scouting approach that we run in cycles,” shared Burton. “The reason why we use the quad chart and a One Page White Paper is because that’s the baseline for any government submission. Whether it's through a scouting platform that the government's using, a prize competition or a broad agency announcement. That's what they want. They want to be clear on the government problem you're solving, how you solve it, what is your commercial and dual use application? We're getting ahead of the requirements.”

All of this preparation will be put to the test during the actual FTS. The full day will include networking opportunities, vendor booths showcasing technology, breakout sessions and Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue, Commanding General and Senior Mission Commander, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Liberty as the Keynote Speaker. 

 “There's going to be booths that folks can set up or down selecting those as well, based upon emerging technology requirements that DOD has. We want to showcase the most critical technologies that DOD is looking for right now,” said Burton. “We've gone out and scouted for those technologies and then we're going to present them on the floor, just to open a discussion. The intent is not to make a sale. The intent is to inform requirements for the government, and then also for our companies to have that feedback with the warfighters.” 

According to Burton, one of the most invaluable events for attendees will be the Joint Force and Installation Modernization Shark Tank. This will be an opportunity for companies to receive feedback on their proposals to actual problems experienced by government buyers from the potential buyers themselves. 

“We’re in final down select for our Shark Tank session. These companies are going to benefit tremendously because they get a chance to pitch in front of the government and in front of the audience, their technology quad charts and receive some feedback, which is really essential feedback that they otherwise would not receive if they had just gone as an attendee,” said Burton.

Anyone interested in learning more about the full scope of events before, during and after the FTS are encouraged to go online to www.defense.ncmbc.us to learn more.