OODAcon 2022:  Future Wars – Beyond Cyberconflict

Panel Description:  Twenty years ago, cybersecurity experts warned of attacks against power grids and planes falling from the sky. They predicted a future that has not manifested itself yet. Will it? Or will the future of war be a conflict waged for the hearts and minds of social media users? What about the future of conflict in the contested domain of space – not only regarding assets in orbit but space exploration and resource exploitation? What lessons will Russia use from its extensive use of cyber tools against Ukraine? What lessons should defenders learn?

Panelists Biographies

John Robb is an author, inventor, entrepreneur, technology analyst, engineer, and military pilot.  A graduate of the United States Air Force (USAF) Academy with a BS in Astronautical Engineering, Robb was a USAF pilot with an airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license and served as a pilot in a tier one counter-terrorism unit that worked alongside Delta and Seal Team 6.  After his time in the USAF, he attended Yale where he received a Master’s Degree in Public and Private Management.

In 1995-96, Robb was the world’s most popular Internet Analyst while at Forrester Research, generating the research and authoring the first portal report (‘96) and the first social networking report (‘96).   After his time with Forrester, Rob was the Co-founder and President of Gomez (online brokerage/banking), generating over $40m/year in revenue in three years while building a global performance testing network (52 cities on six continents across 23 internet backbones), a data center, and a consumer finance site (it won a Webby award). The company sold for $295 m in 2009 and the software we currently see in use on Facebook and Twitter.

John’s insight on technology and governance has appeared on the BBC, Fox News, National Public Radio, CNBC, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek.  Robb wrote the book Brave New War on the future of national security and has advised the Joint Chiefs of Staff, NSA, DoD, CIA, and the House Armed Services Committee.  Robb is the Publisher of The Global Guerrillas Report and author of Brave New War. (Global Guerrillas).

Twitter: @johnrobb;   John Robb | LinkedIn

By John Robb:

• Global Guerrillas
• Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

Further OODA Loop Resources:

• OODAcast: John Robb on Global Guerrillas and Frameworks to Drive Decision Making
• John Robb on the Early Internet, Frameworks to Drive Decision Making, Network Tribalism and Emerging Threats (1 of 2)
• John Robb on Hyper-networked Tribes, Digital Sovereignty, Digital Identity, Digital Rights and “The Long Night”
  (2 of 2)

J.D. Work is a professor at the National Defense University, College of Information and Cyberspace. His research focuses on cyber intelligence and decision advantage, operational art in offensive and counter-cyber campaigns, and strategy in conflict and competition. He has over two decades of experience working in cyber, intelligence, and operations roles for the private sector and the US government.  Work holds additional affiliations with the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, and the Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare at Marine Corps University.

JD Work | LinkedIn

By J.D. Work:

• Burned & Blinded: Escalation Risks of Intelligence Loss from Counter-Cyber Operations in Crisis. International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 35 No 4. June 2022.
• Offensive Cyber Operations and Future Littoral Operating Concepts. Military Cyber Affairs, 5 No 1. May 2022.
• Balancing on the rail – considering responsibility and restraint in the July 2021 Iran railways incident. Offensive Cyber Working Group (UK). September 2021.
• Early intelligence assessments of COMBLOC computing. Journal of Intelligence History, 21 No 2. February 2021.
• Evaluating commercial cyber intelligence activity. International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 33 No 2. January 2020.

OODAcon is about understanding the future and developing the resiliency to thrive and survive in an age of exponential disruption.

Society, technology, and institutions are confronting unprecedented change. The rapid acceleration of innovation, disruptive technologies and infrastructures, and new modes of network-enabled conflict require leaders to not only think outside the box but to think without the box.

The OODAcon conference series brings together the hackers, thinkers, strategists, disruptors, leaders, technologists, and creators with one foot in the future to discuss the most pressing issues of the day and provide insight into the ways technology is evolving. OODAcon is not just about understanding the future but developing the resiliency to thrive and survive in an age of disruption.

OODAcon is the next-generation event for understanding the next generation of risks and opportunities.

OODA Network Members receive a 50% discount on ticket prices. For more on network benefits and to sign up see: Join OODA Loop

Please register to attend today and be a part of the conversation.