Part 1 – WASHINGTON, D.C.
This year marked ‘100 Years of Mateship’ between the Australian and United States militaries, a celebration which happened to coincide with Kinetic IT’s recent trade mission to the land of opportunity with AustCyber and Austrade. It was a fitting backdrop, considering the purpose of the trip was to build relationships across the pond with a range of American, Australian and global organisations.
Flying the Kinetic IT flag alongside myself was our Chief Product Officer, Brett Roberts, as we joined the official Australian trade mission delegate on the Washington D.C. and San Francisco legs of the tour. Our mission: showcase Kinetic IT’s cyber security capabilities to the world’s biggest defence and national security providers and position us as their partner of choice for security services on Australian soil.
Starting in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., we met with leaders from a range of global defence security heavyweights, such as Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Thales. Also in the mix were representatives from U.S. government departments, including the National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense. We had a fantastic opportunity to pitch Kinetic IT’s cyber security capabilities to a room full of potential partners, customers and investors, along with a dozen other established Australian businesses and start-ups.
Interestingly, the DoD, NSA and DHS are all facing the same challenges we are here in Australia, but they also face a raft of new challenges we haven’t yet encountered due to the sheer enormity and geo-dispersion of their workforce. Everyone we met was highly enthusiastic and complimentary about Australia’s cyber capability and we are now seen on the global security stage as a force to be reckoned with.
More than half of the events in D.C. were held at the Australian Embassy, and seeing the Australian flag flying proud gave us a real sense of having a home away from home.
Washington, D.C. Highlights
- Listening to a briefing from the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) and the Virginian Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) on the State’s cyber security initiatives and its growing commercial ecosystem — an interesting and stark contrast with Australia’s national cyber security approach.
- Attending an event hosted by Ambassador Katrina Cooper, Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy. We had the opportunity to listen to keynote speeches from AustCyber CEO, Michelle Price, and several visiting industry experts as well as network with cyber security insight leaders, customers and potential collaboration partners from Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland.
- Touring the headquarters of Tenable Inc., one of the most successful government contractors in Washington DC. This was a great opportunity to talk about the potential to collaborate back in Australia. Brett and I heard their war stories of starting up in this sector, their growth, trials and successful working relationships with US government agencies.
