U.S.-Finland Defense Industry Conference
The next event will take place in 2013. Please check back for details.
About the Event
The U.S. and Finland enjoy a tradition of friendly association. The defense industries in both countries face similar challenges and both are looking for more arenas in which they can cooperate for mutual benefit. Both sides' defense industries have prospered from their past and ongoing business relationships.
This one day industry and government bilateral conference was designed to focus on ways in which the two countries' defense and security industries can work more closely together to accomplish common goals by illuminating those technological and programmatic areas which U.S. DoD and Finland’s MoD officials have identified as needed now. Knowledge of those areas will provide U.S. and Finish companies with a point of departure from which future business opportunities can spring. Conference attendees will benefit from having the best minds in the U.S. and Finish governments and defense industrial bases focused on the transition of technology and know how into the new systems that will increase the near-term effectiveness of U.S. and Finish forces.
The conference will bring together government officials who are directly engaged in the identification of new areas for collaboration and the companies capable of executing those identified business and cooperative opportunities. Moreover, the conference is deliberately structured to foster serious conversation among the government and industry participants, identify areas for improvement, and provide recommendations for action.
NDIA and the Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace Industries (AFDA) are working with Tekes and The American Chamber of Commerce in Finland to organize this event.
Please 
click here for a list and description of Finish companies that participated in the event on November 9th.
Agenda and Presentations
November 9, 2011
Embassy of Finland at 3301 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Wasington, DC
8.30 a.m.
Welcome Remarks
- Lt Gen Lawrence P. Farrell, Jr., USAF (Ret), President and CEO, National Defence
Association
- Mr. Heikki Allonen, President, Association of Finnish Defence and Aerospace
Industries
- Ms. Suvi SundqUist, Programme Manager, Tekes Safety and Security Programme
Signing of the NDIA – AFDA MoU
9:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks
- Ms Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Ambassador, Embassy of Finland
9.30 a.m.
U.S. Government remarks
- Dr. Nancy Spruill, Director, Acquisition Resources and Analysis, OUSD (AT&L)
Finnish Government remarks
- Mr. Arto Räty, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence
10.00 a.m.
Networking Break
10:30 am
General Session I on Procurement Outlook
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Interests and Programs 2012
- Mr. Richard Halverson, Homeland Security (HSI) Unit Chief for Outreach and
Training, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center),
Depart of Homeland Security U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Foreign Comparative Testing Team Interests and programs 2012
- COL Rodney Todaro, USAF, Director, Comparative Test Office
- Finnish Defence Forces including the reform of the Finnish Defense Forces and future
Procurement Programs
- BG Veli Pekka Valtonen, Chief Armaments, Defence Command Finland
11.45 a.m.
General Session II on Cyber Defense
Moderator: Ms. Suvi Sundquist, Tekes
How do U.S. businesses view Cyber Defense
- Col Carl Williamson, USAF (Ret), Executive Director Cyber Strategy, Defense Enterprise
Solutions, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Competences of the Finnish Defense and Security Industry on Cyber Defense
- Mr. Michael Waksman, CEO, Jetico
12.45 p.m.
Networking Lunch
2.00 p.m.
General Session III on Industrial Cooperation – Lessons Learned from the Finnish F-18 Program
Moderator: Mr. Robert Allen Evers
Description of the program by Boeing and Finnish Air Force/MOD
- Mr. Richard Cisiewski, International Strategic Partnerships, The Boeing Company
- COL Kari Renko, FIAF, Chief, Programmes Division, Finnish Air Force Materiel Command (FINAFMC)
- Mr. Jukka Holkeri, Chief Marketing Officer, Patria
3.00 p.m. Networking Break
3.30 p.m.
General Session IV on Opportunities for Future Collaboration
Moderator: Ms. Alexandra Pasternak-Jackson, International Business Engagement,
The American Chamber of Commerice in Finland
Arctic Strategy: Rear Admiral David Titley, USN, Oceanographer and Navigator of the
Navy, Director, Maritime Domain Awareness and Space
Case Study: Success in Logistics: COL Bryan Stephens, USA (Ret), President, Kalmar
Rough Terrain Center, LLC
Panel: Finnish Innovation, Ecosystem and Collaboration between Companies - The
Benefits to U.S. Companies
Finnish Defence: Mr. Jari Sankala, Vice President, Defence & Security, Elektrobit
Finnish Security: Mr. Pertti Woitsch, Mirasys, Chairman, AFDA Security Group;
Chairman, Steering Group of Board Tekes Security Program
U.S. Perspective: Mr. Timothy Raglin, Rapid Architecture Concepts and Engineering
(RACE) Program Manager, Raytheon Company
5.00 p.m.
Closing Remarks
- NDIA, AFDA, Tekes & AmCham
5.30 p.m.
Buffet Dinner co-hosted by Ms. Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Ambassador to the
United States, Embassy of Finland
7.30 p.m.
Evening adjourns