How 5G can transform Defense Operations

Mr. Dwayne Florenzie is Senior Strategy Executive at the United States Secretary of the Air Force’s Office of Commercial and Economic Analysis supporting advanced technologies including 5G, IoT and AI.

Mr. Florenzie previously held leadership roles in strategy, sales, business development, acquisitions, partnerships and integration of advanced technology for Cisco Systems and General Electric (GE) Digital especially in the areas of mobile networks, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Prior to this, Mr. Florenzie managed Cisco’s mobile architecture business in Japan with market entry wins in each of Japan’s major telecommunications service providers. He also pioneered new business development for Alcatel-Lucent (currently Nokia) globally and especially across Asia including over $1B wins in the disciplined teams to break into new markets around the world. Mr. Florenzie has extensive international experience including working in 25 countries.

Mr. Florenzie held diplomatic roles as an officer with the U.S. Air Force in both Japan and Hong Kong where he worked closely with government, business and technology leaders across the Indo-Pacific region. He also served as business director for Air Force acquisitions of technical systems.

Along with an MBA in Global Management from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Florenzie earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Lehigh University in Metallurgy & Materials Engineering, a minor in Aerospace Studies and certifications in language for Japanese from the U.S. Defense Language Institute and in Chinese Mandarin from the U.S. State Department Foreign Service Institute.

He and his family live in San Jose, California.

Mike is an accomplished global IT Leader with a successful track record in delivering value to global businesses through innovative technology solutions across multiple industries. As a C-Suite executive with over 30 years of global IT leadership experience, Mike has helped large companies plan and lead large, global transformation initiatives. He has extensive experience developing multi-year strategies and execution roadmaps, managing transformational ERP programs, large-scale legacy system modernization to cloud-based and SaaS-based offerings, technology innovations including advanced UI/UX development, Big Data Analytics, AI/ML & RPA and Digital Factory & IoT/Industry 4.0.

Prior to his role at the Department of Navy, Mike served as the Vice President of Technology, Strategy & Solutions at ThoughtFocus, a privately held information technology services and advisory firm and part of the innovation portfolio of the Blackstone Group. Mike was recruited to transform the overall strategy and vision for the technology and service offerings of ThoughtFocus and to lead their internal IT organization globally, as well as to stand-up the company’s Enterprise Solutions and Digital Advisory Practice to oversee client engagements covering vision and strategy, organizational design, business process transformation, architecture and technology introduction/governance including SAP S/4 HANA and M&A Management.

Prior to joining ThoughtFocus, Mike served as VP, IT & Digital Solutions at TE Connectivity, a large global, industrial manufacturer of connectors and sensors. Mike pioneered TE’s digital strategy and innovations across all business segments globally. He drove the transformation of the end-to-end, concept-to-customer business processes, and chartered a global Digital Center of Excellence, where he led all aspects of IT delivery, deployment and support for Digital Engineering and Model-based Design, Digital Factory and Manufacturing automation (including additive manufacturing, digital inspection, AI/ML and IoT) and Digital Customer Experience. In addition, Mike introduced software engineering shared services, standards and policies around embedded software engineering and cloud-based software lifecycle management platforms for the TE's smart-connectivity products.

Previously, Mike was VP, Global Engineering Services and Senior Director of Enterprise Business Systems for Tyco Electronics, where he co-led the global deployment of SAP and spearheaded enterprise data management by introducing a 40TB enterprise-wide data warehouse, and business intelligence and analytics capabilities. Mike was also responsible for the IT integration of over 80 acquisitions ranging from $10M-$3B in revenue into the company's shared services and standard systems. Before being acquired by Tyco International, Mike held a variety of global IT leadership roles at AMP Incorporated, a $5 Billion electrical and electronics manufacturer.

Mike holds BA degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, a master’s equivalent in Information Systems Management from the IBM Information System Management Institute and Leadership Academy and executive certifications in Executive Leadership and Corporate Strategy from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Bong Gumahad is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). He is currently the Director of the Command, Control, Communications, Computers/Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance (C4/ISR) Division in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (A&S). In this position, he is responsible for acquisition oversight of the Intelligence Community (IC) Major Systems Acquisition (MSAs). His portfolio includes MSAs of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and other activities. His Department of Defense portfolio includes major C4/ISR communications systems, command and control for advanced weapons platforms, as well as related ground based intelligence production, exploitation, and dissemination systems.

Mr. Gumahad is a retired United States Air Force Colonel. He served as a signals intelligence (SIGINT) Research and Development (R&D) engineer, payload manager, program element monitor, space segment director, and acquisition executive in a number of classified space programs for the NRO.

Mr. Gumahad holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology; a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering (electro-optics) from the Air Force Institute of Technology; a Master of Arts degree from Georgetown University; and a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mr. Gumahad also graduated from the United States Air War College, the Defense Systems Management College, and the National Security Agency Senior Cryptologic School. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. Dan Massey leads the Operate Through portion of the DoD 5G to NextG Initiative. Operate Through aims to ensure DoD can securely operate through commercial 5G networks across the globe. Dr. Massey has more than 25 years of research and management experience and is the author over 100 peer reviewed publications on networking and cyber security, including co-editor of the DNS Security Standard (RFCs 4033, 4034, and 4035) and early work on Named Data Networking. Dr. Massey has served as the Principal Investigator on research funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and industry. As a faculty member, he helped develop cybersecurity programs at both the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University. Dr. Massey also served as a Program Manager in the Cyber Security Division, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At DHS, he developed and managed the Distributed Denial of Service Defense (DDoSD) program and the Cyber Physical Systems Security (CPSSEC) program that focused on cyber security for automobiles and other systems that combine the cyber and physical worlds. He earned his doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Lance Spencer leads the AT&T business for the Air Force and Space Force, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Combatant Commands and Defense Agencies. He is responsible for identifying, aligning and developing AT&T and partner capabilities to meet Air Force, DoD, Joint and Coalition global operating needs to improve operational availability, cyber security, resiliency and cost.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Spencer served nearly 26 years in the United States Air Force, retiring as a colonel. He held a variety of key leadership positions in the United States and overseas including: Headquarters, United States Air Force at the Pentagon; several Major Commands; stood up the Communications Directorate at an Air Force Component Command; Joint Task Force/J6; Expeditionary Group Commander; and Squadron Commands both in garrison and deployed. His extensive experience heading teams that deliver Information Technology, Cyberspace, Space, and Intelligence capabilities has made him an acknowledged front runner in charting Air Force Cyber and IT Strategies and Solutions.

The Air Force Chief Information Officer recognized Mr. Spencer for establishing the first Air Force Cyberspace Concept of Operations, conceiving and defining the Air Force Cyberspace Weapons School, and fielding cutting edge network operations and security solutions that vastly improved performance while reducing operating costs.

Mr. Spencer is a recipient of the Air Force’s Legion of Merit medal. He was awarded the Order of Merit for his support to the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot Program. He was selected for the AT&T Diamond Club in 2019 (top 1%), named the 2018 MVP for the AT&T Defense Segment (#1/1000) and was a member of the 2018 Team Award. In 2016, he was presented with the AT&T Sales Excellence Award.

Mr. Spencer earned a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University, a master’s degree in Engineering with a business minor from the University of Nebraska, and completed the Air War College. He is a member of the Board of Directors for CyberPatriot. He is also an author and a public speaker; several of his articles have been printed in industry publications and he has spoken at numerous industry events.

Jared Serbu has been covering the Defense Department since 2010 and has filed hundreds of stories on DoD’s contracting, legislative, workforce and materiel issues. Jared has produced multiple news series, which included investigating DoD’s shrinking footprint and the Goldwater-Nichols Act: 25 years later. Jared also hosts On DoD, a weekly interview program with DoD officials.