Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      AFRL commander headlines digital summit in DaytonPublished Aug. 10, 2022
                    
                    By Marcus Morton
                    
                    
                    Air Force Research Laboratory Research Collaboration and Computing Directorate
            **WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) --**The Department of the Air Force **Digital Transformation Office**, in partnership with the University of Dayton Research Institute, Sinclair Community College and several Dayton area businesses, co-hosted the Dayton Digital Transformation Summit at Sinclair’s downtown Dayton campus, Aug. 2-4.Air Force Research Laboratory Commander Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle explains the government-industry-academia partnership required to enable the Air Force to address rapidly evolving threats in the digital arena during the Dayton Digital Transformation Summit at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2022. The three-day event, held Aug. 2-4, educated the Dayton region and encouraged local and national parties to support Department of the Air Force digital transformation efforts. (U.S. Air Force photo / Kati Cospy)Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, Air Force Research Laboratory commander, explains the government-industry-academia partnership required to enable the Air Force to address rapidly evolving threats in the digital arena during the Dayton Digital Transformation Summit at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2022. The three-day event educated the Dayton region and encouraged local and national parties to support Department of the Air Force digital transformation efforts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kati Cospy)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res

    











The three-day event served to educate and align the Dayton region and interested local and national parties to support the department’s digital transformation efforts. Headlining the summit was **Air Force Research Laboratory** commander **Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle**, who created AFRL’s Digital War Room earlier this year to digitally transform how business is conducted throughout AFRL.
“We are at a critical juncture in our nation and what we are doing in AFRL to adapt, to take some risks, to fail fast and get to the next problem that needs to be solved, is only one part of the overall solution,” Pringle said. “I want to underscore that we have a great team at AFRL, but in order to face and conquer the [accelerating] challenges our nation faces and the pace of technological change that we encounter, it is going to take each and every one of us – academia, the research institutes [and] industry – to keep up.”
Pringle’s remarks complement the broad-based government-industry-academia partnership required to fully leverage the advantages of digitizing data and reducing production time from concept to field operations to improve the nation’s defense posture.
“The bottom line is we need to work on all these challenges and overcome the digital and technological challenges that prevent us from collaborating, as well,” Pringle added.
Throughout the event, Dayton area businesses were given the opportunity to become engaged in DAF’s digital transformation efforts and enable the Air Force to face and overcome rapidly evolving threats. The summit provided product overviews and demonstrations in the areas of digital twins, digital design and digital engineering. Also included were panel discussions ranging from government vision to Original Equipment Manufacturer perspectives.
Two leaders from Pringle’s AFRL Digital War Room, Dr. Pam Kobryn and Andrea Mahaffey, were featured panelists during their respective discussions and echoed Pringle’s message while providing keys to transformation success.
“Leaders need to walk the walk ... lead by example, embrace digital means of communicating, become comfortable ‘being uncomfortable’ and give their workforce a peek inside their professional transformation journey,” Kobryn remarked.
Similarly, Mahaffey explained the need for digital solutions and continuous changes to information technology services.
“We need contract mechanisms that embrace agile methods,” Mahaffey explained. “We need to be able to divest, re-architect and pivot our core services at the same rate as the industry changes.”FS 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



Air Force Research Laboratory 



AFRL 



Digital Transformation Office 



DTO 



Dayton Research Institute 



Sinclair Community College 



Research Collaboration and Computing Directorate 



Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle 



industry 



academia 



partnerships 



Digital War Room Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil