🇺🇸 Dual-Use Entrepreneur’s Guide to #SXSW24

Are you ready for the biggest week in Austin?

South by Southwest (SXSW) descends upon the city this year from March 8th-16th. Many of this year’s topics will focus on dual-use technology and defense innovation — I’ve included some of the sessions I’m planning on attending below.

Did I miss something? Leave it in the comments!

All Week

Capital Factory House at SXSW

March 8–12

Capital Factory House features five days of jam-packed action and opportunity — with many events this year zeroed in on defense innovation. What better way to soak up all SXSW has to offer than to plant yourself in the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in downtown Austin, within walking distance of the Convention Center and the hotels where all SXSW programming takes place.

You can filter the #CFHouse agenda for defense events. With partners like NavalX, L3Harris, AFWERX, SBIR/STTR, and more, #CFHouse is THE place to be for defense innovation programming at SXSW® 2024.

Friday, March 8

Startup Crawl

The Startup Crawl has been the biggest technology and entrepreneurship party at SXSW since 2011. This year’s exhibitors include dual-use startups like Cybereum, Solideon, and Venus Aerospace, defense innovators like NavalX, AFWERX, DIU, and AAL, and corporate partners like Raytheon and MITRE.

Grab a group of friends and find out what happens when the hottest startups come together at the same time, in the same place. You’ll explore Capital Factory’s Austin innovation space through the eyes of an entrepreneur, grab a drink, and meet more than 100 startups.

This event is open to the public as long as you register and SXSW badge holders get to use a priority access line. Tickets are only $10 and will sell out!

Time: 6pm to 9pm
Location: Capital Factory
Register: Sign up here (no SXSW badge required)

Defending Reality VS. Gen AI: The War Against Deep Fakes

FEATURING
Laura Plunkett (Executive Director, Comcast NBCUniversal)
Ben Colman (Chief Defender, Reality Defender)

In this session, Laura and Ben will work together to provide real time deepfake detection across all media types. They’ll discuss the opportunity for deepfake detection and the risk to business and society if deepfakes are allowed to scale without any regulation. They will outline steps that enterprise organizations can take to protect their intellectual property, and how creators and startups can think about combating deepfakes and the risks they pose.

Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon J
Register: SXSW Badge required

Saturday, March 9

The Space and Defense Innovation Showcase

Austin, Texas has become a hub for defense innovation and space-related technologies. During SXSW®, innovation leaders from throughout the space and defense communities come together to scout new technologies, make connections and engage within the greater innovation ecosystem.

This showcase features cutting-edge technology demos from emerging and established space and defense companies, plus an award ceremony where the most innovative technologies will be celebrated.

Time: 9:30am to 2:30pm
Location: RSVP to learn more!

10 Billion Reasons To Invest In Cybersecurity

FEATURING
Lisa Gevelber (CMO Americas Region, Google)
J.B. Milliken (Chancellor, The University of Texas System)

$10 billion. That’s what cybercrime cost the U.S. last year. With cyberattacks sharply on the rise and more than 650,000 unfilled cyber jobs, we need immediate solutions to address the threat. Join Lisa Gevelber, founder of Google’s economic opportunity initiative, and JB Milliken, chancellor of Texas’ largest university system, to discuss how we can meet this urgent demand with a skilled and diverse workforce.

Time: 10am to 11am
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon J

Transforming for the Future: Innovation, Tech, and the Army

FEATURING
Meagan Metzger (CEO, Dcode)
Gen. James Rainey (Army Futures Command, US Army)
Hon. Christine Wormuth (Secretary of the Army, US Army)

The U.S. Army has always been a force for innovation across the Nation, owing past successes in large part to America’s pioneering spirit. The pace of technological change across the globe is unprecedented, and this continuous acceleration demands faster innovation to ensure the Nation’s ability to succeed in a complex world. Learn how our Army is developing policy, people and technologies to secure our future, because tomorrow is worth protecting!

Time: 11:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon B

Sunday, March 10

The Defense Market’s Tough — But it’s Good for Business

FEATURING
Dan Gwak (Managing Partner, Point72 Private Investments)
Christopher Kirchhoff (Founding Partner, Defense Innovation Unit)
Alexis Lasselle Ross (President, Apex Defense Strategies)
Joshua Marcuse (Head of Strategy & Innovation, Google Public Sector)

The Pentagon has a reputation for being a terrible customer: slow, inflexible, and fickle, just to name a few of its most prominent traits. But many startups still pursue the Defense market as a key source of revenue, and investors are increasingly flocking there. This panel will offer insights into not only why, but how to minimize the pain and maximize the gain of working with DOD.

Time: 4pm to 5pm
Location: The LINE Hotel, Onyx Ballroom 1

Boundary Breakers: The Next Leap in Government and Defense Innovation

“Boundary Breakers” is designed to be more than just a networking event or a social; it’s a convergence point for sparking meaningful conversations and forging lasting partnerships in the gov-tech space. Featuring a keynote address, a panel of thought leaders, and a concluding happy hour, this gathering will be a milestone in government and defense innovation.

Time: 5pm to 9pm
Location: Method Three Events

Tuesday, March 12

The Design Imperative: Secure Software For A Safer Future

FEATURING
Lisa Einstein (Executive Director, Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, CISA)
Bob Lord (Senior Technical Advisor, CISA)
Victoria Nguyen (CEO and Co-Founder, Curiosity Corps and Servitium Cyber)
Lauren Zabierek (Senior Policy Advisor, CISA)

Do you worry about hackers from other nations shutting down power, paralyzing hospitals, or impacting our water supply? Just like the automobile industry in the 1950s, where drivers were blamed for crashes caused by faulty, unsafe cars; today, we blame end-users of technology for cyberattacks and data breaches. The reality is that we are forced to use insecure technology. We envision a world where software is inherently secure, safe, and resilient — meaning less cyberattacks and less disruption to our public safety, national security, and economic well being. In this session, industry experts will discuss how to make these changes.

Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon K

Swarms: Current Research and Future Applications

FEATURING
Nora Ayanian (Associate Professor of Engineering and Computer Science, Brown University)
Giovanni Beltrame (Professor, Ecole Polytechnique De Montreal)
David Koelle (Director of Engineering, Charles River Analytics)
Amir Rahmani (Group Lead, Multi-Agent Autonomy Group, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Collections of robots working together to achieve tasks — swarm systems — are an exciting and intriguing means to solve problems in novel ways. Swarms provide solutions to challenges in agriculture, search and rescue, planetary exploration, warehouse automation, nanomedicine, and many more fields. While we currently operate single robots even in our homes, there are fundamental differences between operating a single robot and a swarm. The panel of experts at this session will discuss current research, future applications, and challenges in the adoption and wide-scale use of swarms.

Time: 4pm to 5pm
Location: JW Marriott, Salon ABC

Wednesday, March 13

The Tech Industry and Cold War Two: Risks, Threats and Opportunities

FEATURING
Jason Schenker (Chairman & President, Prestige Economics)

The United States and its allies are in the middle of a Second Cold War with China and Russia, including their allies and proxies. This has significant implications for the global economy, technology businesses, and startups. This presentation will address the biggest risks, threats, and opportunities for the tech industry due to rising geopolitical tensions, with a focus on recent and future tech implications. Topics of this talk will include a discussion of recent and future trade restrictions, supply chain impacts, macroeconomic dislocations, tech investing and fundraising restrictions, financial market impacts, reshoring, government funding, and more…

Time: 10am to 11am
Location: Hilton Austin Downtown, Salon J