Speakers

Continuous Delivery – the future of Information Dominance. Continuous Delivery is Ryan's "why." As a developer by trade, Ryan builds and leads national security software organizations so the US wins the next fight.
His DevOps adventures span the users of Defense R&D and Test, Air Force Combat Search and Rescue, and the US Citizenship and Immigration Service enterprise (and some ethical hacking).
As TAK Product Center Director, Ryan leads a pipe-hitting team of passionate technologists that empowers more than 4,000 developers to deliver a family of open-source, networked geospatial platforms to over 350,000 military, federal, civilian, and international users. TAK is the technical baseline for 18 US Government Programs of Record and is a key component of every combat theater, each National Special Security Event, and most wildland fire responses.
As the USSOCOM PEO-SOF Digital Applications Chief Engineer, Ryan drives the technical vision and execution of a large software and data portfolio delivering Special Operations-peculiar digital capabilities to SOF users across the globe.
In both roles, the pursuit of Continuous Delivery is the means to an end – to empower the user.
Before coming to SOCOM in June 2021, Ryan served as the Associate Vice President of Engineering at a small business where he led the technical execution of a 130-person DHS DevSecOps program.There, he also had the privilege of managing and serving 50 top-notch software engineers. Before that, and after transitioning from Active Duty in 2017, he was a defense industry Program Manager for Agile and DevOps programs. On Active Duty, Ryan helped develop and field TAK at Air Force Research Laboratory.
Ryan has a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Purdue University, is DAWIA Level 3-certified,and loves to delight users. He is a Combat Veteran and a Major in the Air Force Reserve. Ryan's hobbies include carpentry and yardwork, but he also relentlessly muses about new tech startup concepts is always "almost done" with another tech tutorial. Ryan keeps it real in Indiana.

Mr. Daniel Lynch is the first Chief Software Integration Officer (CSIO) for Special Operations Forces Digital Applications (SDA).  He is responsible for supporting SOF Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ATL&L) in the rapid acquisition of software capabilities for U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Lynch served as the lead Computer Engineer for Special Operations Forces Training System, Aviation Training Systems, at the PEO for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (STRI), Orlando, Florida.  In his role he was responsible for supporting U.S. Army, Foreign Military, and USSOCOM to provide virtual, constructive, and mission rehearsal training support.  He led a team of engineers responsible for software development and deployment, system integration, and system engineering process management.  

Mr. Lynch served as the lead Geospatial and Software Fielding engineer for OneSAF at PEO STRI, Orlando, Florida.  In his role he was responsible for generation of synthetic geospatial environments for training and simulation.  He led a team of rapid fielding and testing that worked directly with users to turn their requirements into delivered capability.

Daniel began his service as a Department of Defense civilian in 2007 while attending University of Central Florida earning a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He achieved Level III Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act certification in the Engineering career field and completed Civilian Education System training.  He also completed his Master’s in Business Administration from University of Central Florida in 2017.

Mr. Lynch’s civilian awards include Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, Department of the Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service, and multiple Special Act Awards.  

Mr. Lynch is a husband to his wife Sarah and father to two beautiful children, Daniel and Martina.

Vimesh Patel serves as a Chief Technology Advisor (CTA) on the DoD/IC Team at World Wide Technology (WWT). 

Patel is a former Senior Executive who spent 21 years in the DoD supporting Counterterrorism and National Security missions within the Intelligence Community. 

He ended his service as the Deputy Director for Data Strategy and Innovation at the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) where he was responsible for the lifecycle of data assets at the National Counter-terrorism Center including acquisition, analysis and integration as well as data policy, regulatory and compliance matters. 

Prior to joining WWT, he was Vice President for Technology for Decision Lab where he was leading and providing big data infrastructure and analytic solutions for clients in sectors such as finance, healthcare, marketing and government.

George Jackson is director of events at GovExec – the largest and most-influential media company in the public sector marketplace. He joined the company in 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences. In 2021, George launched GovExec TV (streaming video content) and received the company’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, part of their first-annual Icon Awards.

George graduated from The Ohio State University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in English. In 2006, he earned his master’s in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

George spent the first five years of his journalism career at WJHL-TV in Johnson City Tenn. – beginning as an overnight producer for the station’s 6 a.m. broadcast. He advanced to lead on-air reporter for WJHL’s 11 p.m. newscast.

As a reporter, George examined the earnings of two non-profit hospital systems, felony charges filed against a local sheriff, predatory paving companies, a health benefits backlog for local veterans, and a series of cold-case murder investigations. He received an honorable mention for Best TV Reporter in the 2011 Tennessee AP Broadcast awards and won a Best Investigative Reporting award from Media General in 2010.

George joined DC’s ABC affiliate WJLA-TV in 2012 to produce Capital Insider, which won him an Emmy award. One year later, he developed and recorded the pilot episode of Government Matters – a program about the business of government. It debuted as a weekly show on Sunday, August 4th of 2013. George led Government Matters through September of 2020, expanded its reach to a daily worldwide audience, and produced its first feature-length documentary The Dawn of Generation AI.

George is from Toledo, Ohio. He lives with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of rescue dogs in Northern Virginia.