Aloha,
We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves, we are the Hawaii Defense Alliance (Alliance), contracted by the State of Hawaii Department of Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) through a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC, previously, Office of Economic Adjustment). Our mission is to grow a more robust and sustainable defense sector in Hawaii with a priority focus on ship repair and ship building, engineering services and IT/cyber security/data analytics.
The Alliance officially launched in May 2021 and is actively working to bring together industry, government, educational institutions and community resource partners to help increase local business opportunities. We have established an executive steering committee of experienced business and community leaders who are volunteering countless hours of their time to provide insight and guidance, along with four working groups – small business support, business ecosystem support, workforce development, and market resiliency and innovation. Mahalo to all who have dedicated their time to the Alliance and for investing in Hawaii’s future!
As we move forward executing our strategy and achieving our project goals, the Alliance’s e-newsletter, along with our soon to be launched website and social media channels, will help us keep you and other members of our community informed. We are excited about this project and look forward to sharing more with you in the coming months.
Mahalo,
Jason Chung, Vice President of the Military Affairs Council
Jennifer Sabas, Co-Director of CyberHawaii
Pono Chong, Program Manager of the Hawaii Defense Alliance
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DBEDT’s Hawaii Defense Alliance (Alliance) hosted its first in-person events with partners Hawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) and the Military Affairs Council (MAC) July 19-20, 2021 at the Entrepreneurs Sandbox.
Phil Kahue, strategic advisor to Alaka‘ina Foundation and Alliance steering committee member, welcomed guests to the workshop on Monday, July 19. Opening comments were provided by: Wayne Inouye, center director, HTDC; T. Mark Spain, district director, Small Business Administration; and MG Suzy Vares-Lum (Ret), MAC strategic advisor. Jason Chung, vice president of military affairs, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, moderated the panel discussion with senior representatives from Hawaii’s growing defense sector which included:
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Ed Barnabas, director, PACRIM, Booz Allen Hamilton
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Christopher Loftis, Hawaii site lead, ISR Business, Huntington Ingalls Industries
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Miguel Martinez, vice president, joint cyber and space, Parsons
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Shannon Tolliver, program director, Smartronix
Attendees were also invited to participate in a one-on-one a speed dating session with defense companies.
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Guests were welcomed back on Tuesday, July 20 for a pau hana reception welcoming new members of Hawaii’s growing defense ecosystem. Remarks were given by Mayor Rick Blangiardi; Speaker Scott Saiki, House of Representatives; Dennis Ling, administrator, Business Development & Support Division, DBEDT; and Vassilis Syrmos, vice president for research and innovation, University of Hawai‘i.
Mahalo to all defense companies for the important work you do in defense of our nation, and as economic drivers of our Hawaii economy.
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Hawaii Officials Are Making A Cybersecurity Push To Keep Federal Contracts Flowing |
On July 21, Honolulu Civil Beat published a story by Kevin Knodell “Hawaii Officials Are Making A Cybersecurity Push To Keep Federal Contracts Flowing,” highlighting the enforcement of cybersecurity requirements by federal agencies and significance of recent changes – “There’s literally a tsunami of impact coming to Hawaii contractors right now that they may or may not weather, and that they may or may not survive.”
Knodell mentions the Hawaii Defense Alliance workshop and includes comments from Jill Tokuda, co-director of CyberHawaii, on Cyber Ready Hawaii, a free cyber readiness program to assist Hawaii’s small businesses to become cyber ready developed in partnership with the Cyber Readiness Institute and funded by DBEDT. The article also mentions DBEDT’s Hawaii Defense Economy Cyber Compliance Education Program by eResilience, another free cyber compliance education and technical support program funded by the OLDCC through DBEDT. To read the full article, click here. |
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CyberHawaii introduces free cybersecurity training program for businesses |
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ThinkTech Hawaii – Military in Hawaii
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"Military in Hawaii" is a bi-weekly series that airs on Thursdays at 2 p.m. on ThinkTech Hawaii that features members of the military community and the MAC. The following episodes include the Alliance, members of the its steering committee and working groups, as well as Cyber Ready Hawaii.
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Hawaii Defense Alliance
June 24, 2021
Pono Chong, program manager of the Alliance and Jason Chung, vice president of military affairs, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii provided an overview on the Alliance, established by DBEDT through a grant from OLDCC. To watch the full episode, click here.
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Diversifying Hawaii’s Economy
July 8, 2021
Alma Grocki, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret), Ian Caliedo, president, Caliedo & Sons Services, Inc. and Iain Wood, CEO, Pacific Shipyards International discuss how industrial ship repair and the defense sector can contribute to grow and diversify Hawaii's economy. To watch the full episode, click here.
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Cyber Ready Hawaii
July 22, 2021
Jodi Ito, chair of CyberHawaii and Jill Tokuda, co-director of CyberHawaii talk about Cyber Ready Hawaii, a free program designed to train entry level cybersecurity professionals to lead and support Hawaii’s small to medium-sized entities (SMEs), including businesses and nonprofits through a Cyber Readiness Program that focuses on cybersecurity hygiene and basic safeguarding measures required to meet federal contracting requirements. The program was developed in partnership with the Cyber Readiness Institute and funded by DBEDT. To watch the full episode, click here.
The next episode of Military in Hawaii airs Thursday, Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. and will feature Christine Lanning and Daphne Tong-Pave, co-chairs of the Alliance’s Small Business Support Working Group. For past episodes, visit the Military in Hawaii webpage, or playlist on YouTube or Vimeo.
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DBEDT is offering two free programs to help Hawaii-based companies and organizations become cyber ready. |
Cyber Ready Hawaii is a free program designed to train entry-level cybersecurity professionals to lead and support Hawaii’s small to medium-sized businesses and nonprofits through a cyber readiness program that focuses on cybersecurity hygiene and basic safeguarding measures required to meet federal contracting requirements.
Cyber Ready Hawaii is currently recruiting Hawaii-based SMEs interested in doing business with the federal government and/or current federal contractors requiring additional training and assistance to be cyber ready. For more information, click here or visit cyberhawaii.org/cyber-readiness.
For current, Hawaii-based DOD contractors and subcontractors requesting more in-depth information and assistance related to DOD cybersecurity contracting requirements, DBEDT is also offering the Hawaii Defense Economy Cyber Compliance Education Program in partnership with eResilience. The program includes an online webinar to help DOD contractors and subcontractors understand, differentiate and navigate various cybersecurity contracting mandates, as well as provides free consulting assistance to select contractors handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). To access this program, click here or visit eresilience.com/hde.
Cyber Ready Hawaii is funded through a contract from DBEDT and developed by CyberHawaii with its national partner the Cyber Readiness Institute.
Developed by eResilience, the Hawaii Defense Economy Cyber Compliance Education Program is funded by DBEDT through a grant from OLDCC.
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The Hawaii Defense Alliance is established by the State of Hawaii Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) through a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Local Defense Community cooperation (previously, Office of Economic Adjustment). For more information about DBEDT’s Hawaii Defense Economy project visit DefenseEconomy.hawaii.gov.
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