Speakers

Mr. Savanrith "Savan" Kong serves as the Customer Experience Officer in the Office of the DoD Chief Information Officer. In this role, Savan leads the UX PfMO and is responsible for the Department’s execution of UX initiatives. Mr. Kong is responsible for building a common understanding of the Department’s most critical Digital UX challenges, touchpoint, and gaps; creating a UX culture in the Department; and defining approaches, tools, methodologies and processes to address prioritized UX shortfalls.

Mr. Kong is a distinguished product and UX leader with an extensive background spanning both public and private sectors. Prior to joining the CIO, he served as a General Manager at Rebellion Defense showcasing his expertise in crafting mission-focused software tailored for defense and security applications.

Before his tenure at Rebellion Defense, Mr. Kong served as a Digital Service Expert in DoD's Defense Digital Service office, focusing on rapid response initiatives. He was responsible for a range of projects that included the Basic Optical Biometric Analysis (BOBA) program, a cloud enabled biometric analysis application; and Project Rabbit, a program to improve the employment verification and Chief of Mission approval process for Afghans applying for Special Immigrant Visas.

Throughout his career, he has accumulated invaluable experience across diverse industries. Notably, he played a pivotal role as the first employee at Redfin, contributing to the growth and success of the real estate giant. At Redfin, he co-authored a patent (US9436945B2) for an interactive map-based search and advertising technology.

His influence extended to a medical software company, Kareo, consumer design leadership at Amazon, managing UX teams with their Kindle Content division, and executive responsibilities at startups Conenza and BlogTalkRadio during their nascent stages.

Ms. Renata C. Spinks is a senior cybersecurity and technology executive whose diverse experience reaches across multiple sectors- from Academia to Active-Duty Military; from the Executive Branches of the Federal Government to the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense.

Ms. Spinks is a career SES who previously served as the Assistant Director of IT for IC4 (Information, Communications, Computers, Command and Control) for the Unites States Marines.  In this role, she also served as the Senior Information Security Officer/Authorizing Official for the service. She achieved exceptional awards, performance reviews and accolades as she led the execution and further expansion of the Network Modernization efforts started while she served in the Senior Leader role at MARFORCYBER (Marine Forces Cyber & Space Command).  She deployed cyber based technology and used her executive authorities to sponsor intelligence informed Defense Cyber Operations (DCO) and enterprise migrations-transitioning the USMC to 0365 secure mobile workforce in record timing.  

Ms. Spinks has now transitioned from public service and is now serving as an Independent Consultant and CEO of her own consulting firm – CyberSec International where she intends to build an industry-based go-to problem solving company for cyber operations concentrating on governance, transition planning and information technology modernization for supply chain, defense industrial base technology, and operations inclusive of law enforcement, business, and warfighting. 

Bill Roberts is Riverbed Technology’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Defense.  He is a trusted advisor for Riverbed DOD customers to help ensure mission success by realizing the optimum value from Riverbed solutions, advocating for the customer within Riverbed, and driving product change to meet customer needs.  Bill has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry specializing in networking, integration, automation, and service management working with DOD, IC, and Civilian agencies, as well as private sector customers.  Bill started his IT career in first level technical support, progressing into escalation support and support management before moving to professional services implementation consulting and project management positions, finally transitioning to pre-sales engineering.

George Jackson is the Executive Producer & Host of GovExec TV. George joined GovExec in October of 2020 to enhance the scale of their events and audience experiences.

He 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.