Calling all innovators!

Does your organization have a cutting-edge idea for current opportunities facing the DoW community? If so, this is your chance to get visibility for your ideas!

In an era of increasing requirements and constrained resources, the Department of War (DoW) must continue to embrace commercial innovation and the efficiencies it can provide. The SIGNAL Innovation Showcase is an opportunity for companies of all sizes to demonstrate groundbreaking solutions of interest to government and potential industry partners. 

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is seeking solutions to address emerging or existing challenges. TechNet Cyber participants are encouraged to submit potential solutions for the problem statements below.

Problem Statements

Agentic AI

Opportunity Statement: DISA is exploring the adoption of agentic AI to orchestrate and automate defensive cyber operations across a diverse ecosystem of security tools, data sources, and operational workflows. While AI agents offer transformative potential to accelerate threat detection and response, the industry lacks mature standards for agent interoperability, secure integration, and governance. We are seeking to understand how industry partners are implementing agentic AI today—specifically, what interoperability protocols are proving effective, how industry is integrating existing Authentication and Authorization solutions to ensure least-privilege access for agents within a Zero Trust Architecture, and what frameworks exist for governing autonomous actions in high-stakes operational environments.

Why this is Important: Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift from passive automation to autonomous systems that can reason and act on behalf of human operators. Without established standards and proven governance frameworks, we risk deploying agents that could introduce security vulnerabilities, produce unreliable outcomes, or operate outside their intended scope. Understanding how industry is solving these challenges is critical for the agency to harness the power of agentic AI effectively and lead in its secure adoption.

Automated Authority to Operate (ATO)

Opportunity Statement: The traditional ATO process is slow and labor-intensive. DISA is looking for technologies that will assist in automating both the package creation and package review process. Any solutions must integrate with existing tools, like eMASS, and the RMF process.

Why this is Important: DISA is continually working to accelerate solution delivery to warfighters while staying ahead of an increasingly complex cyber landscape. To meet that, we need to reduce compliance bottlenecks while maintaining cybersecurity rigor.

Zero Trust in Contested and Disconnected Environments

Opportunity Statement: How can industry enable scalable, policy-driven Zero Trust enforcement across classified and unclassified networks when operating in denied, degraded, intermittent, or limited (DDIL) environments?

Why this is Important: DISA is responsible for securing the DoD Information Network (DoDIN). As cyber threats from peer adversaries increase, centralized trust models break down in contested environments. DISA needs:

• Distributed identity and access control
• Edge-based policy enforcement
• Continuous authentication without constant cloud reachback

This directly supports resilient command and control (C2) and Joint All-Domain Operations.

Additional topics may be added as we receive them.

Submit your topic for a presentation on the exhibit floor and gain the broadest exposure for your solution among government, military, and industry attendees.

Important Dates

Abstracts accepted through Sunday, April 19, 2026.
Submitters notified by Friday, April 24, 2026.

What to Expect

Visibility: Title, speaker and abstract details will be published in the following locations: TechNet Cyber SIGNAL Innovation Showcase webpage, TechNet Cyber program agenda (available via web and mobile app), and the SIGNAL Magazine Innovation Showcase compendium, published and shared with attendees via the conference website.

Location: SIGNAL Innovation Theater - Exhibit Hall, Booth #2769, Baltimore Convention Center

Set-up: Designed to encourage interaction and engagement, the space will include a combination of theater style and high-top tables for up to 30 participants. A monitor, laptop and small sound system will be available. Presenters may choose to supply their own laptop.

Internet connectivity will not be provided.

Presentation length: Time slots are available in 20-minute increments, including Q&A. We encourage presenters to invite attendees back to their exhibit booth to field additional questions.

Additional Notes:  

1. A $1,495.00 administrative fee will be charged to offset operating costs if selected to present.
2. Preference will be given to companies that are sponsoring and/or exhibiting at TechNet Cyber.
3. Session content, speakers and schedule are subject to AFCEA International review and approval.
4. All abstracts received via the submission portal, regardless of whether they were selected for presentation or not, will be included in a SIGNAL Magazine compendium and made available to attendees via the conference website.