2d TSB hosts Transport and Cloud Forum

Story & photos by Candy Knight, 2d Theater Signal Brigade?Public Affairs

LANDSTUHL, Germany — Communicating lessons learned and discussing paths that lead to impactful optimization for the future is one of the reasons approximately 120 members of the data transport community gathered together May 23 to 25, 2023, in Landstuhl, Germany, for the 2d Theater Signal Brigade 's Transport and Cloud Forum.

“This is the brigade’s second iteration of this event,” said Abdul Smith, Plans and Exercises Division Chief, 2d Theater Signal Bde. “Brigade leadership intends to host one event per year, which will be offset by 21st Signal Brigade’s forum.”

The genesis for this event stems from leadership’s desire to assemble experts and vendors within the transport and cloud industry to address the challenges and opportunities to improve transport and cloud capabilities within the complex and rapidly evolving technological landscape.

“Additionally, events in Europe increased the need for this forum, which allowed for theater-specific conversations, such as alternate transport methods and updates to policies and procedures,” said Thomas Price, Satellite Communications Program Manager, 2d Theater Signal Bde.

Representatives from Kymeta, ViaSAT, OneWeb, L3 Harris, Google, Amazon Web Service, and CISCO Systems attended the event, where they had the opportunity to communicate some of their challenges, and provide non-military perspectives on innovative approaches to improving the Transport and Cloud posture.

“Representatives from these organizations were selected because they are the leading providers of Lower Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit, Military Satellite Communications, and Commercial Satellite Communications Transport, and Cloud service,” Smith said.

The event’s open forum encouraged all attendees to openly discuss various topics, including Data Design Protection, Network Modernization, and Cloud-based network innovations. Attendees also discussed integrating and synchronizing operational and space domain equities in support of theater commander priorities.

“This forum presented a platform for European-specific transport and cloud discussion,” Smith said. “The brigade’s ability to achieve mission success requires support from the global transport community. Increasing the touch points and conversation directly contributes to our success.”