Senator Jack Reed

The opening program at the University of Rhode Island Bay Campus focuses on technology commercialization at URI, including a fireside chat, a tour of the URI Marine Robotics Laboratory and Ocean Technology Center, and collaboration opportunities involving research partnerships, technology licensing, and specialized facilities. The main forum examines geopolitical developments, emerging technologies, and capital trends shaping maritime defense. Topics include autonomous systems, subsea technologies, maritime cybersecurity, dual-use innovation, ocean surveillance, resilient supply chains, and next-generation defense infrastructure. Sessions cover “The New Era of Maritime Competition”; “Below the Surface and Beyond the Norm: How Evolving Maritime Threats are Accelerating Ocean Tech Innovation”; “Rebuilding the Naval Industrial Base”; “Dual-Use Innovation: Bridging Commercial and Defense”; startup presentations addressing naval operations, logistics, ISR, cyber defense, and autonomous systems; “Where Defense Capital Is Moving”; and “Winning the Innovation Race at Sea.” Discussion themes include geopolitical rivalry, contested sea lanes, naval strategy, scalable and attritable technology, workforce shortages, supply-chain vulnerabilities, aging infrastructure, procurement complexity, regulatory constraints, operational requirements, defense investment, accelerated adoption cycles, allied innovation ecosystems, and resilient maritime capabilities. The event is open to the general public and held at the Distribution A level. It is jointly sponsored and produced by UTIC and Blue Venture Forum.