Leadership Dinner with The Hon. John Sherman
November 7, 2023 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM
On Tuesday, Nov. 7, INSA held its final Leadership Dinner of the calendar year with a festive evening celebrating The Hon. John Sherman, Chief Information Officer, DoD.
In introductory remarks, Mr. Sherman outlined his assessment of the current strategic environment and delivered a stirring message on the importance of public-private partnerships in defending American national security. He communicated his office’s priorities to ready the defense information technology enterprise for high-end competition in the Indo-Pacific region, implement the department’s Zero Trust strategy, and recruit and retain a diverse, talented workforce that represents the best of America.
After dinner, INSA Chairwoman Letitia A. Long joined Mr. Sherman for a Q&A. The conversation began with an overview of progress made towards operationalizing a Zero Trust architecture and recommendations for industry to better support this key initiative. The discussion shifted to the importance of unity of effort between DoD, the Intelligence Community, and industry on a variety of critical lines of effort. Mr. Sherman shared how his office has collaborated with the IC and industry partners on the Zero Trust roadmap, cloud computing capabilities, and cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. The conversation closed with Mr. Sherman sharing his vision for the defense information technology enterprise whenever he inevitably moves on from the CIO position, noting key milestones would be long-term adherence to talent management strategies, positive feedback on emerging capabilities from global combatant commanders in the field, and Zero Trust implementation prior to 2027.
