How IT & Cloud Accelerate DoD Missions

Eileen M. Vidrine is the Air Force Chief Data Officer, Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Virginia. She develops and implements strategies for enterprise data management, analytics and digital transformation to optimize performance and drive out innovation in and across all missions and operations. 

Steven D. Wert, a member of the Senior Executive Service, is Program Executive Officer Digital, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. He leads more than 3,500 Airmen, government civilians and support contractors in the acquisition of software and weapons systems and in the standardization and dissemination of agile software development processes throughout the Air Force. PEO digital also executes a $19 billion FYDP portfolio of ACAT, non-ACAT, technology transition and Foreign Military Sales programs. 

Mr. Scott A. Owens is the Deputy Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks, Air Force PEO/C3I&N, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. He provides oversight and assistance to the 2,200 men and women who develop, deploy and sustain a $10.9B portfolio of cyberspace, networks, cryptologic and data link systems to Air Force, joint and coalition warfighters to enable decisive combat operations

Charles Onstott is senior vice president and chief technology officer of SAIC. He is responsible for driving SAIC’s long-term technology strategy which emphasizes fostering a culture of innovation across SAIC, developing and enhancing innovation capabilities, partnerships with startup accelerators and universities, and research and development. His efforts span a broad portfolio of technology capabilities, including information technology, training and simulation, advanced analytics, hardware and platform integration, and logistics and supply chain. Charles has been a successful innovator and served in many capacities, including technical leadership, general management, and executive roles. Most recently he launched SAIC’s Innovation Factory which enables rapid prototyping, evaluation of emerging technologies, and incremental delivery of SAIC’s services. Innovation Factory links together a US-based national network of innovation centers, startup accelerators, and service delivery centers.

Prior to his role as SAIC’s CTO, Charles was an SVP and Service Line Manager for SAIC’s services in key emerging technologies, Cloud, Cyber and Data Science. Under his leadership SAIC significantly grew its capabilities and revenues in these services, including expanding SAIC’s cyber practice in to new areas and customers, significantly growing SAIC’s cloud computing business across an array of customer markets, and leading the development of SAIC’s capabilities in Data Science and analytics. Early in his career, he was the Chief Technologist for SAIC’s Integrated Services Management Center (ISMC) which is SAIC’s most successful IT shared service delivery organization.

He was responsible for overall technology leadership as well as program portfolio management. He has developed IT infrastructure solutions that support more than 400,000 users worldwide in multiple industries with a focus on Federal Civilian agencies, DoD and healthcare. He has managed numerous IT service modernization projects. These projects produced significant cost savings in systems development and maintenance while improving overall customer satisfaction. Charles was selected as Public Company Chief Technology Officer of the Year by Washington Executive in 2020.

Charles has a M.A. in Philosophy of Religion from The University of Chicago and an B.A. in Philosophy from Oklahoma State University. Charles has long been fascinated by the American experience of living at the intersection of advanced technology, rapid innovation, and a generally religious culture. He has a wonderful wife and two teenagers who challenge his video gaming skills. In his spare time, he participates in endurance Mountain Bike races. He completed the Shenandoah 100 mile mountain bike race in 2019.