Imagine Nation ELC 2019: Driving Impact Is the Goal for Tech and Government Leaders

The mission of the annual government conference sponsored by the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council has always been to spur collaboration between the public and private sectors, but this year’s Imagine Nation ELC 2019 has another goal: driving impact.

“It’s a great thing to talk, but talking is just the initial entry into the game,” says David Wennergren, ACT-IAC CEO. “The power comes when working together actually drives mission outcomes. Our play is, ‘How can these conversations, how can these work products we create together, how can they create impact?’”

The four-day conference, which begins Oct. 19 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, brings together government officials and private sector representatives to share ideas and learn from one another.

Key speakers at the event include Federal CIO Suzette Kent, Deputy Commerce Secretary Karen Dunn Kelley and Vint Cerf, co-developer of the TCP/IP protocol and Google’s chief internet evangelist.

Topics Cover Cybersecurity, Modernization, Emerging Tech and Health

The conference is organized around four themes that parallel the President’s Management Agenda: mission modernization, cybersecurity, health innovation and emerging technology.

Attendees can hear talks on topics including robotic process automation, modernization using human-centered design, the impact of the FITARA scorecard and tips from government CISOs.

The four TechKnow Showcase hubs — one for each conference theme — give attendees a chance to put ideas they hear at the talks into action, providing open collaborative areas where people can brainstorm strategies and problems with other government and private-sector employees.

“An agency’s mission cannot be confined to a one-size-fits-all approach,” Bill Zielinski, the conference’s government vice co-chair and assistant commissioner for the General Services Administration’s Office of Information Technology Category, said in a statement. “This year’s conference is designed to bring together, inspire and equip participants from multiple disciplines and career levels.”

Imagine Nation ELC’s mobile app can help attendees plan their schedules and keep track of speakers on the multiple stages. It also provides speaker bios, an attendee list and an activity feed that lets everyone know what’s trending.

During the conference, follow us on Twitter @FedTechMagazine and contribute to the social media conversation and see what others are talking about by using the hashtags #ImagineNationELC and #DrivingImpact.

FedTech staff will be in Philadelphia to cover the conference through video, articles and social media, delivering insights, information and best practices from top federal experts. Bookmark this page and follow all of our coverage here.