scsp.ai transforms DC's mediation of AI, Energy, Space &

[chris macrae]

website www.scsp.ai

events covers biggest ai challenges ai overall "expo"     ai+space  ai+energy-fusion

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critical snips

Ylli Bajraktari and Paul J. Maykish describe how Albert Einstein recognized the transformative power of nuclear fission and urged the U.S. to take the lead. Today, as we face the potential of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), his words offer valuable insights. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eXfRHzbB

[chris macrae]

Special Competitive Studies Project - SCSP

Research Services • Crystal City, VA

15K followers

The Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) is a bipartisan, non-profit initiative with a clear mission: to make recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness for a future where artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies reshape our national security, economy, and society...

2 connections work here

Ylli Bajraktari • 1st

President at Special Competitive Studies Project Action Program

Arlington, Virginia, United States

Current: President at Special Competitive Studies Project - SCSP

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ashfaq ishaq, Fady Saad and 7 other mutual connections

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Senjin Naolu • 1st

Associate Director for Economy - Special Competitive Studies Project

United States

Message

Current: Associate Director for Economy at Special Competitive Studies Project - SCSP

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David Lin and Ylli Bajraktari are mutual connections

David Lin

· 1st

Senior Advisor @ SCSP | China | Emerging Tech | National Security

United States

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Contact info

Special Competitive Studies Project - SCSP

The George Washington University

500+ connections

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Ylli, Nicholas and 5 other mutual connections

[chris macrae]

Panel: Building a Trust Layer: The Power of Digital Provenance
10:00 AM-10:25 AM
AI+ Policy
Alamo Theater Two
To discuss the development and implementation of provenance technology, its application in forensic investigations, and its potential to become a trusted standard for evidence in the legal system.

Rama Elluru
Senior Advisor for Governance
Panel: Mission Partners: How VA-built AI is Transforming Industries
10:30 AM-10:55 AM
AI+ Policy
Alamo Theater Two
Real examples of Virginia-built AI moving from pilot projects to everyday use in factories, ports, and hospitals, and what that means for local jobs and stronger supply chains.

Ian Tyndall
Managing Director, AI Center of Excellence
Altria
AI in Defense: Opportunities, Risks and Global Competition
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
AI+ Policy
National Landing Experience Center
From autonomous flight to predictive supply chains, AI is rapidly moving from experimentation to operational necessity in military operations. Carl Forsling, Director of Business Development & Strategy for the Military Line of Business at Airbus, joins us to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping defense strategy. He will bring a defense industry perspective on what it takes to integrate these technologies into complex, high-stakes environments.

This discussion, held at the AI Unlocked symposium, organized by the Special Competitive Studies Project, will cover:

Where are the biggest opportunities — and risks — in deploying AI for mission-critical defense functions?
What lessons from the war in Ukraine show us about the pace and direction of military AI?
Has the United States fallen behind China in some AI applications to defense, and what would it take to close the gap?

Whether you are a business leader, tech innovator or policymaker shaping AI strategy, join us for this deep-dive conversation.

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Carl Forsling
Director, Business Development and Strategy, Military Line of Business
Airbus U.S. Space and Defense
Panel: Understanding the Cyber Threat Environment: A Conversation with Top Experts
11:00 AM-11:25 AM
AI+ Policy
Alamo Theater Two
Leading cyber experts discuss how the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran and other adversaries are taking advantage of America’s open society and economy to steal data and proprietary information and to gain geopolitical advantage.

Mr. Rob Joyce
Founder
Joyce Cyber
Panel: Building a Culture of Rapid Innovation
11:30 AM-11:55 AM
AI+ Policy
Alamo Theater Two
To discuss how the United States can overcome the cultural, bureaucratic, and financial obstacles that inhibit rapid innovation within the national security ecosystem.

Martijn Rasser
Senior Advisor for Economy
SCSP
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Panel: AI for Emergency Response and Beyond
12:00 PM-12:30 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two
From wildfire detection to disaster logistics and real-time decision support, artificial intelligence is transforming the speed, scale, and precision of emergency response. This panel explores how AI is being deployed across crises — from natural disasters and public health emergencies to conflict zones. We’ll dive into the technologies powering next-generation situational awareness, the opportunities and challenges of deploying AI in high-stakes environments, and the future of AI in safeguarding communities.

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Michael Martin
Co-founder and CEO
RapidSOS
Panel: Designing the Future of Human-AI Interfaces
12:40 PM-1:05 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two
As AI becomes embedded in our everyday environments—from XR headsets and ambient sensors to wearables and voice agents—the interface between humans and machines is transforming. This session explores the leading edge of that transformation: how we interact, move, sense, and think alongside intelligent devices. Panelists will share emerging trends in multimodal interaction, immersive experiences, and edge AI—and how these shifts are redefining what it means to “use” technology when it no longer lives on a screen.

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Liz Hyman
CEO
XR Association

Andres Castrillon
Senior Director, Government Affairs
Qualcomm
Panel: Bolstering Education in the AI Era
1:15 PM-1:45 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two
This panel will explore how artificial intelligence is being integrated into classrooms to support educators and enhance student learning. It will highlight positive, practical use cases and discuss how schools can harness AI responsibly and effectively to prepare the next generation for a changing world.

Dr. Ryan Carpenter
Special Advisor
Special Competitive Studies Project
Panel: The Next Generation of AI
1:55 PM-2:25 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two
As AI systems grow more capable, this panel asks a provocative question: what really counts as thinking in the age of AGI—and are humans still the benchmark?

Maithra Raghu
Co-founder and CEO
Samaya AI
Demo: The Multimodal Frontier
2:35 PM-2:45 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two

Mohammed Husain
Solutions Engineer
OpenAI
Panel: Autonomy in Motion
2:55 PM-3:25 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two
This fireside will explore how autonomy is changing how we move, both on the ground and in the air. We’ll explore the enabling technologies, policy and infrastructure needs, and how the industry is thinking about commercial deployment at scale.

Carl Forsling
Director, Business Development and Strategy, Military Line of Business
Airbus U.S. Space and Defense
Fireside: 50 Years From Now: What AI Might Become
3:35 PM-4:05 PM
AI+ Tech Frontiers
Alamo Theater Two
If today’s AI trends take flight, what might the world look like 50 years from now? This fireside explores the possibilities—grounded in fact, lifted by fiction.

Martijn Rasser
Senior Advisor for Economy
SCSP

Music Talk: The LLM of Music
10:00 AM-10:30 AM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Two
Discover how Musixmatch leverages AI to turn lyrics into strategic assets — from content insights to dynamic videos that empower artists and engage fans.

Marco Paglia
Co-President
Musixmatch
Music
Teens
Young Professionals & Adults
Science Talk: Using AI to Find Life on Exoplanets
10:00 AM-10:30 AM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Three
Using AI to push the boundaries of discovery, from deep space to the search for life.

Cecilia Garraffo
Director of AstroAI
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
Astronomy
Science
All Ages
Teens
Music Demo: The New Creative Partner: Using AI to Expand Artistic Boundaries with Spatial Music
10:10 AM-10:40 AM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
In this talk and live demo, artist Will Copps explores how AI is becoming a true creative partner, expanding what’s possible in art and design. Using a multispeaker demo, he’ll show how it’s powering his own innovation in spatial music.

Will Copps
A/V Artist and Musician
A/V Artist and Musician
Music
All Ages
Kids & Families
Sports Talk: The AI Revolution in Sports
10:15 AM-10:35 AM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
From the locker room to your living room, data and AI are rewriting the rules of performance. Teams now use AI to break down the elements of a game — from passing, swings, throws and shots —spotting patterns invisible to the human eye. This talk explores how AI is changing not only how we watch and play sports, but how we understand human potential itself.

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Brian Hall
Head of A.I. / Adjunct Professor
AlphaPlay / New York University
Sports
All Ages
Kids & Families
Teens
Health Talk: Would You Trust a Doctor Who Uses ChatGPT?
10:35 AM-10:55 AM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
AI is entering healthcare in many shapes and forms, from ambient listening to autonomous diagnosis to agentic risk prediction. With this shift comes a pressing question: how does AI shape the fragile web of trust? In this talk, Tinglong Dai and Christopher Myers share insights from recent studies on peer perceptions of AI use in medicine, the role of trust in shaping patient experiences and outcomes, and the accountability challenges that arise when humans and machines share responsibility for clinical decisions. They examine the “superhuman dilemma,” where doctors are expected to achieve perfection with AI yet are still blamed when technology falls short. The session closes with leadership lessons for building AI-assisted health systems that integrate these technologies intelligently while safeguarding trust between clinicians, patients, and AI systems.

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Christopher Myers
Professor and Faculty Director
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Tinglong Dai
Ferrari Professor of Business
Johns Hopkins University
Health
Young Professionals & Adults
Teens
Education Demo: Kai XR AI Adventures: Curiosity, Creativity, and Play
10:40 AM-11:00 AM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Transforming learning with AI-powered tools that make classrooms more immersive and engaging.

Kai Frazier
CEO
Kai XR
Education
Kids & Families
Arts Talk: The Poet's Code: Human Voice in the AI Age
10:45 AM-11:15 AM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Three
A poet who codes and a coder who writes, Sasha blurs the line between human language and machine expression.

Martha Joseph
Associate Curator, Department of Media and Performance
The Museum of Modern Art

Sasha Stiles
Poet, artist, AI researcher
Sasha Stiles
Arts
Teens
Young Professionals & Adults
Film Talk: Lorem Ipsum Corp
10:45 AM-11:15 AM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Two
Revealing how AI is transforming the craft, business, and imagination of cinema.

C C
Chris Cooper
Partner
Lorem Ipsum Corp
Film
Young Professionals & Adults
Health Talk: From X-Rays to Algorithms: Seeing Inside the Body with AI
10:55 AM-11:15 AM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
Nina reveals how AI is transforming medical imaging into a sharper, faster window into the human body.

MD, MS, FSIIM Nina Kottler
Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinical AI
Radiology Partners
Health
All Ages
Young Professionals & Adults
Video Demo: The Misfit Names
11:00 AM-11:05 AM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
In the exhibition "The Misfit Names", Te-Mao Lee explores the AI real-time object detection system YOLO (You Only Look Once) watches a soothing aquarium scene together with the audience, featuring coral, sea anemones, and schools of fish. Although the imagery appears familiar and comforting, it represents an environment that YOLO cannot accurately comprehend.

By positioning AI as a viewer and a thinker, the work reveals its fluid cognition as it views and misreads underwater images, generating text that flows like a stream of consciousness. The works delineate a temporary and indeterminate “in-between state of being,” probing the shifting boundaries co-inhabited by humans, landscapes, and artificial intelligence.

This exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture (MOC) of Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO). Organized in partnership with International Arts and Artists.

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Te-Mao Lee
Artist and Curator
Arts Talk: The AI Revolution: Five Tensions Reshaping the Business of Storytelling
11:15 AM-11:35 AM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
This session dissects how generative AI is fundamentally inverting the business model of storytelling by creating five new strategic tensions. The talk explores why value is shifting from technical craft to creative curation, how influence is challenging traditional IP, and why linear workflows are giving way to ecosystem and world-building. Attendees will gain foresight into how these shifts transform labor, production, and audience engagement, providing a strategic map to navigate the future creative economy.

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Elizabeth Strickler
Director, Media Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Georgia State University
Arts
Young Professionals & Adults
Business
Education Demo: ⚡Training AI Models with Sphero BOLT+
11:30 AM-11:50 AM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Curious how AI learns? Watch as we train models to recognize baseball pitches and even animal faces, all powered by Sphero BOLT+. See how robots can bring AI concepts to life in a fun, approachable way and spark big ideas for the classroom.

Adrienne Emerson
Solution Architect
Sphero
Robotics
Education
Kids & Families
Teens
Film Talk: From 35mm to AI, The Future of Filmmaking
11:30 AM-12:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Three
Tracing the journey from film reels to algorithms, Jonathan reveals how technology is shaping Hollywood's future.

Jonathan Yunger
Co-Founder & CEO
Arcana Labs
Film
Teens
Young Professionals & Adults
Healthcare AI Landscape Session: Insights from NVIDIA
11:30 AM-12:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Two
From diagnosis to discovery, NVIDIA is transforming the healthcare AI landscape—Renee Yao takes us on a journey of how AI has evolved.

Renee Yao
Director, NCP Strategic Initiatives
NVIDIA
Health
Young Professionals & Adults
Teens
Interview: AI-Powered Healthcare Supply Chain Security for a Resilient Future
11:40 AM-12:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
Learn from Exiger's Theresa Campobasso how AI is transforming healthcare supply chains into secure, resilient systems.

Martijn Rasser
Senior Advisor for Economy
SCSP

Theresa Campobasso
Senior Vice President, Government Success
Exiger
Health
Young Professionals & Adults
Keynote: Refik Anadol’s Machine Hallucinations: Creating Art with a Thinking Brush
12:00 PM-12:30 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
A visionary keynote that explores how AI and data are augmenting creativity.

Refik Anadol
Director and CoFounder
Refik Anadol Studio
Arts
All Ages
Major Tuddy and Command Force
12:00 PM-2:00 PM
AI+ Discovery

Major Tuddy
Interview: How Computing’s History Shapes Tomorrow’s AI
12:05 PM-12:25 PM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
Smithsonian historian and curator of computing Andrew Meade McGee peels back the hidden wiring of computing to show how bits and bytes shaped the frontiers of today's science and technology.

PJ Maykish
Vice President of Strategy
SCSP

Dr. Andrew Meade McGee
Curator of Computing
Smithsonian Institution, National Air & Space Museum
Science
Young Professionals & Adults
Teens
Arts Talk: What Geese Taught Me About AI: Surprising Lessons in Creativity and Collaboration
12:15 PM-12:45 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Three
This talk explores how failed mimicry and absurd thought experiments—whether with geese, AI, or neurodivergent perception—become methods of creative collaboration and questioning, using misrecognition to test the limits of systems and reveal unexpected insights about empathy, responsibility, and connection across species and technologies.

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Schuyler Dragoo
Head of Creative Strategy & Marketing | Experimental Artist
Kiingo AI
Arts
Teens
Young Professionals & Adults
Film Talk: Why AI Needs the Human Touch More Than Ever
12:15 PM-12:45 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Two
Stories brought to life through the intersection of cinema and technology.

Reza Sixo Safai
Co-Founder
Massive Studios
Film
Young Professionals & Adults
Teens
Robotics Demo: Capital City Robotics
12:30 PM-1:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Robotics that inspire hands-on exploration and the next generation of builders.

Ryan Daza
Founding Executive Director
Capitol City Robotics
Robotics
All Ages
Tech Talk: From Artificial to Augmented: AI + Imagination
12:30 PM-12:50 PM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
Exploring new frontiers where the humanities meets technology.

Termeh Rassi
Chief Strategy Officer
Leonardo
Arts
All Ages
Health Talk: How AI Can Unlock Secrets of Your Health Through Your Eyes
12:55 PM-1:15 PM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
Your eyes can say more about your health than you think—AI shows us how.

M.D. Alvin Liu
Endowed Professor and Director of the Gills Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Health
Teens
Young Professionals & Adults
Education Demo: Game Changineer: Spark your imagination and creativity
1:00 PM-1:30 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
A learner-focused, user-friendly way to create and innovate games; real-time response from AI on any errors and bugs, with suggestions on how to fix them.

Michael Hsiao
Professor
Virginia Tech
Education
Kids & Families
Hope Talk: Using AI to Keep Youth and Families Strong Beyond Foster Care
1:00 PM-1:20 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Two
Hope without resources is cruel — and too often, that is the reality for families touched by foster care. When young people turn 18 without being adopted or reunited, they age out of the system. Relatives who take in their grandchildren, nieces, or nephews face the same uphill climb: finding stable housing, transportation, food, health care, and education. Through our virtual service, we are using AI to keep families together and support youth aging out by connecting them to the right resources at the right time. AI is also helping us drive foster care reform by analyzing data from our program to identify needs and gaps, AI is supporting our youth to share their stories in powerful, non-retraumatizing ways, and powering reports and research that have informed both state and national policy. Come to this session to learn what’s already working today — and how we are experimenting with AI to reimagine what’s possible in social services.

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Mr Sixto Cancel
Founder & CEO
Think of Us
Education
Young Professionals & Adults
Teens
Tech Talk: AI Teaches Drone Swarms to Fly Like Birds
1:00 PM-1:20 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Three
Imagine a flock of tiny AI-powered drones flying together like birds in the sky, staying in formation, following a leader, and dodging obstacles without anyone steering them. We built a new system that uses artificial intelligence to help each drone learn from what others are doing, near and far, now and in the recent past. This smarter teamwork keeps the whole swarm moving as one. Our tests with real flying drones show how this AI breakthrough could power future missions in search and rescue, disaster response, and environmental monitoring.

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Dr. Chang-Tien Lu
Professor
Virginia Tech
Drones
Teens
Young Professionals & Adults
Arts Talk: Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington
1:20 PM-1:40 PM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
A window into the creative future, straight from Arlington’s hub for contemporary art and ideas.

Catherine Anchin
Executive Director
Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington
Arts
Young Professionals & Adults
Teens
Arts Demo: Dream Logic Studios: Immersive Art Experience
1:30 PM-2:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Immersive experiences merging art and technology to reimagine storytelling.

Doug Bradshaw
Creative Director
Dream Logic Studios
Arts
All Ages
Tech Talk: AI on the Team: Leading in the Era of Adoption
1:30 PM-1:50 PM
AI+ Discovery
Alamo Theater Three
Redefining leadership for an era where humans and AI work side by side.

Shaara Roman
Founder + CEO
The Silverene Group
Business
Young Professionals & Adults
Education Demo: Kai XR AI Adventures: Curiosity, Creativity, and Play
1:45 PM-2:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
National Landing Experience Center
Transforming learning with AI-powered tools that make classrooms more immersive and engaging.

Kai Frazier
CEO
Kai XR
Education
Kids & Families
Ayşedeniz Gökçin
2:00 PM-2:30 PM
AI+ Discovery
Corner of 18th St S & Crystal Drive
Step into a world where timeless piano meets the unexpected, creating music that surprises and moves you.

AyseDeniz Gokcin
Concert Pianist, Composer, AI Producer
Borderless Music LLC
Music
All Ages
Culture, Tech & Creativity: A Conversation with Elan Bibas
2:30 PM-2:50 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Join us for an exciting interview between Elan Bibas, Digital Creator & Former AI Founder, and Katie Linendoll, Host of the AI Unlocked Festival!

Elan Bibas
Digital Creator & Former AI Founder
AI DJ
3:00 PM-5:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Juan San Emeterio, performing as DJ Juan, is a career software engineer who first leveraged AI as a tool to improve his code before exploring its potential in music theory and creative ideation. With the release of Sora, he partnered with Marc Donnelly, a Music Theorist and Vocalist with MD Music Studio, to shape immersive storytelling experiences that merge curated AI visuals with live performance. Through Silver Spring Records, DJ Juan and Marc craft sets where sound, narrative, and technology converge.

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Juan San Emeterio
DJ
Silver Spring Records
Music
All Ages
The Future of Creativity with AI
3:30 PM-4:00 PM
AI+ Discovery
Outdoor Stage
Join Jonathan Yunger, Arcana AI, and Katie Linendoll, Host of the AI Unlocked Festival, for a lively discussion on the future of AI and creativity!

Jonathan Yunger
Co-Founder & CEO
Arcana Labs