M&S is Not for Military Programs Only

Group Editor Marty Kauchak and MS&T Editor Rick Adams attended the 2021 I/ITSEC Congressional Caucus briefing.

The conference’s Monday morning Congressional M&S Caucus session provided two significant messages to an overflowing conference room: the caucus members reiterated the M&S sector is not the exclusive purview of military learning audiences’ training and education programs; and indirectly, the representatives validated Halldale Media’s editorial programs – MS&T, CAT and SCT are synchronized to inform readers of the rapidly evolving developments in the expanding M&S space.

Three US House members trekked to Orlando to attend this year’s caucus: Reps. Bobby Scott (Virginia), Stephanie Murphy (Florida), and Jack Bergman (Michigan), with Robb Wittman (Virginia) delivering comments virtually.

To the person, each caucus member spoke to the imperative to expand M&S’s enabling capabilities in and beyond military programs. Reps. Scott & Murphy specifically noted burgeoning opportunities to use M&S to counter the effects of climate change and enable other US national priorities. Rep. Murphy specified the case to use digital twins to help model roads and ports before earth is turned for these and other infrastructure projects, scheduled to be built as a result of the recently enacted Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In response to a question on M&S for healthcare, Rep. Bergman called attention to a theme that has resonated in SCT postings – the sustained, unacceptable annual US patient death rates due to medical related errors – estimated at about 250,000 annually. Noting his experience as a former Northwest airline pilot, Berman emphasized flight crews are not allowed to fly if they do not pass simulator-based scenarios. To point, he opined if health care providers do not pass the equivalent of “check rides,” they should not be allowed to go into the operating room or similar points of delivering healthcare. “Training is value added – to the patient, to those with policy and funding oversight of health care facilities and others,” the three-term congressman said.

The caucus is viewing M&S through the prism of activities beyond money – in oversight and expanding emerging technologies.

Rep. Murphy highlighted her colleagues’ interest to speed up the introduction of M&S technologies into the hands of the training audiences, and the linkage of serious gaming and exercises to help expand the metaverse. Unexpectedly, Rep. Bergman called on the growing number of AI developers in the M&S sector to use ethics and other guidelines as they mature this technology.