Patuxent Defense Forum Tackles Privacy, Technology Issues

The Patuxent Partnership and the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Center for the Study of Democracy are planning the 11th annual Patuxent Defense Forum, and the topic is about the major changes that have happened in defense over the last few decades, and most notably with privacy in recent years.

The theme for the 11th annual forum is “Privacy, Ethics and UAVs: Was George Orwell a Prophet?”

George Orwell published the book “Nineteen Eighty-Four” in 1949 and in it he described a future in which “Big Brother” was always watching. Big Brother was omnipresent. The entity watched every move by every citizen and the world lived in a state of perpetual war. So how much of that has come to pass? The government uses unmanned aircraft vehicles and it seems that the modern wars never end. So have we arrived in Orwell’s future?

Speakers at the annual forum will tackle this idea and also talk about how the availability of sophisticated technology is not the only issue. We also have to be willing to accept these unmanned aircraft in own backyards.

The speakers and moderators include:

• RADM Adm. Matthew Klunder, USN (ret), VP, DoD Strategy and Technology, Global Business Development, Harris Corporation and former Chief of Naval Research, ONR
• Ann L. McDaniel, Senior VP, The Washington Post
• Matt Scassero, Director, University of Maryland UAS Test Site
• RADM Timothy Heely, USN (ret)

RADM Mark Darrah, Program Executive Officer, Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)), NAVAIR, will be the dinner speaker.

The forum will be from 8:15 am to 7 pm on Thursday, June 2, 2016, and will be held at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Registration fee is $95 per person for TPP members, SMCM alumni and 1634 Club; $125 per person for general public. Click here to register.

June 2 Agenda

8:15 – 9 am Check-in & Continental Breakfast

Cole Cinema, Campus Center, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 47645 College Drive, St. Mary’s City

9 – 9:10 am Welcome by Maija Harkonen, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Bonnie Green, Executive Director, The Patuxent Partnership

9:10 – 9:45 am Opening remarks by RADM Matthew Klunder, USN (ret), VP, DoD Strategy and Technology, Global Business Development, Harris Corp. and former Chief of Naval Research, ONR

9:45 am – Noon – Panel I: Privacy, Transparency and Accountability

(Coffee break at 10:30 am)

Moderator: Ann L. McDaniel, Senior VP, The Washington Post. Jack Gohn, Esq. Partner, Gohn Hankey Stichel & Berlage, LLP; ACLU/Electronic Privacy Representative (pending); and professor Stephen Henderson, University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Noon – 1 pm   Lunch, Great Room, Campus Center

1 – 3 pm PANEL II: Commercial and Personal Use of UAVs

Moderator: Matt Scassero, Director, University of Maryland Test Site. RADM Scott Sanders, USN (ret) President, Ausley Associates Inc.; Shawn S. Bullard, Duetto Group; and Vincent Bellezza, President, Aviation Systems Engineering Co Inc. (invited).

3 pm   Coffee break

3:15 – 5 pm – Panel III: Drones and the Ethics of War

Moderator: RADM Timothy Heely, USN (ret).  George Lucas, Ph.D. VADM Stockdale Professor of Ethics, Naval War College; Tom Baker, Director, UAS and Counter UAS Initiatives,1st Air Force (CONR – AFNORTH); Brig. Gen. Robert Dehnert, Jr., USAF (ret), C2A, MSM, IIS, Raytheon; and Avery Plaw, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

5:15 pm   Reception and Dinner at reconstructed State House of 1776, 47418 Old State House Road, St Mary’s City, MD.

The Patuxent Partnership is a nonprofit organization that works with government, industry, and academia on initiatives in science and technology; hosts programs of interest to the US Navy and the broader Department of Defense community and advances education through STEM-based initiatives.

To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and its programs visit, its Leader Page.