Fed Supernova DC

Fed Supernova DC

Presented by Air. Hosted by STATION DC.

Fed Supernova DC brings technology and Washington into real conversation with one another.

November 5: Deliver Capability Faster, Closing the Readiness Gap

America can invent it, fund it, and legislate it. It still cannot field it fast enough.

This edition puts the administration writing the rules on the same stage as the leaders fielding them, alongside the founders building the answers. Where Fed Supernova Austin runs Department of War heavy, the DC edition leans into the administration. With eighteen months left, that is where the pressure that moves the dial comes from.

One afternoon, straight talk, no translation required.

1:00–1:10 PM | Welcome from STATION DC

Doors and registration.

1:10–1:40 PM | Keynote: The Readiness Gap with Tara Murphy Dougherty

A keynote from Tara Murphy Dougherty, CEO of Air, on what it takes to move a capability from proven to fielded, and where the time actually goes.

1:40–2:25 PM | De-Risking Adoption

A conversation across government leadership and industry on what makes adoption safe enough to happen at speed. It covers where the risk actually sits, who carries it today, and what would have to change for a program office to move on a commercial capability without waiting for someone else to go first. With Dr. Keith L. Hardiman, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Department of the Air Force, and Tara Murphy Dougherty, CEO of Air. Moderated by Morgan Kaplan, Head of Public Sector, Vanta.

2:25–2:45 PM | Break

2:45–3:30 PM | A New Paradigm for Industry Access to Classified Information

A conversation on how industry gets access to classified information, covering classified infrastructure, cyber authorization timelines and test and evaluation access, and the work underway across the department and the intelligence community to open them up. With Sarah Pearson, Defense Innovation Unit; John Hennessy, Procurement Executive, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and David Wiggins, Associate Director for the Secure Space Network, Office of Industrial Base Growth. Moderated by Colleen Laughlin, former Executive Director of the Defense Innovation Board.

3:30–3:50 PM | Startup Pitches

Four to six founders building for national security, hosted by Nick Spiller, Managing Director, All Access Fund, Capital Factory.

Flying Ship Technologies, Bill Peterson: Uncrewed, autonomous wing-in-ground-effect vessels for maritime logistics and ISR.

Lead Element, Katherine Hathaway: A veteran-owned venture bringing military operations, emerging technology and design to defense problems.

NanTrak, Evan Parker: Location and detection technology, including real-time life-sign and location data for military and civilian use.

Ronawk, Tom Jantsch: Bio-OS, a biological manufacturing platform for life-science labs with national security applications.

UtopIQ, Kristen Schmidt: AI governance and security for agentic AI systems: access controls, policy enforcement and audit trails.

3:50–4:35 PM | Judged by Delivery, Not Paperwork

What changes when delivery is the measure. With Grant Verstandig, Founder and CEO of Red Cell Partners; Tyler Robinson, VP, Technology Roadmaps, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works; and Rear Admiral Mike Manazir, USN (Ret.), VP of Federal Sales, Hadrian. Moderated by Nic Adams, Director of Government Relations, Overland AI.

4:35–7:00 PM | Happy Hour, presented by Vanta

An opportunity to connect with the room after the programming closes.

Presented By

Air: Enterprise Readiness for national defense. Formerly Govini.

Vanta: Trust management and compliance automation, including FedRAMP, for companies selling to government.

Innovation Sponsor

Capital Factory: The center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas, and STATION DC's partner in the STATION network.

Attendance and Access For inquiries or sponsorship information, reach out to: [email protected]