Launched by Second Front in 2017, the Offset Symposium promotes constructive engagement between the venture-backed innovation ecosystem, traditional defense base, academia, and national security mission users to accelerate the development and scaling of new technologies for national security.
This year’s Offset Symposium theme is Biosecurity. Why Biosecurity? In the US alone, COVID-19 has infected over 10M people, causing 250,000 deaths, and trillions in economic disruption. Pandemic response is just one aspect of biosecurity. Health, economic, and national security are now intertwined. Beyond COVID, McKinsey & Co. forecasts that the bioeconomy will produce $2-4T in annual economic impact by 2030. Biosecurity is now an undeniable enabler of the Third Offset.
Second Front has partnered with the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum and the Defense Innovation Network to bring you this event. We are bringing together members of the defense community, biosecurity subject matter experts, and entrepreneurs and venture capitalists building the bioeconomy.
Biosecurity Insights Report
In conjunction with the 2020 Offset Symposium, we produced a Biosecurity Report to collect insights from our participants and share with those who can leverage our findings. Forthcoming advances – particularly in synthetic biology (the convergence of biology and engineering) and computational biology (the application of advances in big data and artificial intelligence to biology) – will have profound implications for national security and geopolitical competition. Download the report now to explore everything from cyberbiosecurity to the societal considerations of emerging biotechnology, and everything in between.
AGENDA
[All events in Eastern Standard Time]
Day 1 – Wednesday December 9th
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM Networking
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM Opening Remarks – 4th Annual Offset Symposium – Watch Video
Enrique Oti, Second Front Systems11:00 AM – 11:15 AM Keynote – Why Biosecurity? — Watch Video
Austin Walne, Artis Ventures11:30 AM – 12:00 PM Fireside Chat – Biotechnology and Biosecurity: The Future of Defense Modernization — Watch Video
Dr. Diane DiEuliis, National Defense University (Speaker)
Alexander Titus, Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) (Moderator)12:15 PM – 12:45 PM Panel – Cyber Biosecurity: Securing Biological Data — Watch Video
Sterling Sawaya, Geneinfosec
Austin Walne, Artis Ventures
Dr. Aaron Hansen, GeneInfoSec1:00 PM – 1:15 PM Keynote – Biosecurity by Design — Watch Video
Dr. Diane DiEuliis, National Defense University1:30 PM – 2:00 PM Panel – Reactive Biosecurity: Counter-Measures, Vaccines, Therapeutics — Watch Video
Dr. Matt Goldman, DIU
Paul Garofolo, Locus Biosciences
Dr. Ryan Kappedal, Gusto2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Round Table Session 1 – Hosted by Startup & VCs
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM Round Table Session 2 – Hosted by Startup & VCs
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Happy Hour Hosted by the Defense Innovation Network
J.D. Stanley III, Defense Innovation Network
Julie Willis, Defense Innovation Network
Chris Przybyszewski, US BIOLOGIC
Kevin Landtroop, Capital Factory
Kevin Montgomery, IoT/AI
Peggy Sammon, GeneCapture, Inc.
Will Dickson, FedTech
Day 2 – Thursday December 10th
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM Networking
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM Day 2 Opening Remarks — Watch Video
11:00 AM – 11:15 AM Keynote – Biosecurity Policy: Societal Implications of Emerging Biotechnologies — Watch Video
Dr. Sarah Carter, Science Policy Consulting11:30 AM – 12:00 PM Fireside Chat – Partnerships: Leveraging Platforms as a New Model for Rapid Capability Development — Watch Video
Jason Rathje (Speaker), AFWERX
Brittney Martino (Moderator), Second Front Systems12:15 PM – 12:45 PM Panel – Biotechnology’s Role in Repairing a Post-COVID Economy — Watch Video
Peter Emanuel (Speaker), U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command
Alexander Titus (Moderator), Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI)1:00 PM – 1:30 PM Panel – Synthetic Biology: Engineering life, Industry 4.0, and Oversight — Watch Video
Dr. Jim Giordano, Georgetown University Medical Center
Peter Emanuel, US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command
Dr. Gigi Gronvall, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health1:30 PM – 2:00 PM Panel – Cognitive Biosecurity: MUCH More Than Mis/Disinformation —Watch Video
Dr. Jim Giordano, Georgetown University Medical Center
Pat Scannell, Technestar
Dr. David Bray, Atlantic Council2:00 PM – 2:30 PM Round Table Session 1 – Hosted by Academia & DoD
2:30 PM – 3:00 PM Round Table Session 2 – Hosted by Academia & DoD
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Happy Hour Hosted by the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum
Sponsored By
