Elastic Public Sector Summit On-Demand

Chris Townsend highlights the challenges government agencies face with the ever-increasing volume and variety of data. This data comes from diverse sources like missions, operations, cybersecurity, and even new areas like Generative AI. To keep pace, agencies need more effective ways to manage, analyze, and utilize this data. Elastic focuses on how advanced search and analytics, coupled with AI, can empower agencies to unlock the true value of their data. This "exponential power of search," as Townsend suggests, can lead to better decision-making and improved government services.

Today’s digital landscape is rapidly evolving, that landscape is built on data. Ashutosh discusses the importance of search analytics for finding critical information. Elastic finds answers in real time at a reduced cost with tool consolidation in mind. Search has changed how the world uses data and GenAI is the next step towards improving how we access and utilize data.

Erik Goldstein, CISA, emphasized the agency's critical role in protecting federal agencies and our nation's critical infrastructure from cyber threats. CISA not only oversees federal cybersecurity but also works to elevate national standards. They prioritize assisting vulnerable organizations like schools and utilities by providing resources and support to combat cyberattacks. The session highlighted the importance of "secure by design" principles in product development to minimize vulnerabilities and strengthen overall cybersecurity. It is up to companies like Elastic to help make the government’s data more secure and urge organizations towards compliance with their data.

Dave Shive, GSA, discussed how data and AI can be used to improve government services. He highlighted the challenges of siloed data and the need for AI to anticipate citizen needs. His discussion also addressed the importance of user-friendly government websites and the uneven adoption of AI across different agencies.

Moderated by Bill Wright, this panel discussion featured Terry Carpenter and Manuel Xavier Lugo. The panelists engaged in a comprehensive exploration of Generative AI applications within their respective agencies. They delved into specific use cases enabled by this technology, acknowledged and addressed potential concerns surrounding AI and more.

At the 2024 Elastic Public Sector Summit, Laurie Wade spoke about how to best enable the intelligence community to optimize data usage in the new age of AI technology. Attendees learned about the upcoming increase in speed and scale of data collection, why it is important to create a data centric experience for the end user, and the need for AI ready, standardized data capable of crossing multiple silos.

In this presentation, Ken Exner, Chief Project Officer at Elastic, will explore how Elastic's security and observability solutions are leveraging generative AI. Mr. Exner will delve into how Elastic empowers organizations with comprehensive observability through log monitoring, tracing, synthetic monitoring, and other capabilities. He will also discuss Elastic's commitment to providing unified data access for streamlined security operations.

In this discussion, LT. Shano Ezzell showcased how the U.S. Coast Guard is focusing on speed, resiliency and value when approaching AI adoption, as well as some challenges that come along with their unique placement within the federal context. Listeners also heard LT. Shano Ezzell express the importance of seeing AI as a tool, rather than the end all be all. This discussion also highlighted instances where generative AI may not be the right solution for the customer.

In a panel discussion moderated by Sean Mackirdy, data experts Katie Savage and Marcus Thornton explored critical data challenges and their respective states' plans for leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). The conversation centered on ensuring accessibility of AI for all user groups, while acknowledging the anticipated challenges that lie ahead during AI deployment across their states.

Nikki Cabezas highlights the U.S. Army’s focus on protecting the daily financial information that they do not want readily available to the public for security reasons. Nikki also took a deeper look into how these financial transactions tell a story when strung together. Attendees of this discussion learned why it is so important that the protection mechanisms of the U.S. Army continue to modernize and evolve to keep up with emerging vulnerabilities.

In his presentation, Ian Lee provides a comprehensive update on Elastic's first year in production, with a particular focus on the performance of the past six months. He shares key successes achieved during this period, while also outlining areas targeted for further improvement moving forward. Following this overview, Lee delves into the technical aspects of how Elastic is handling the massive data volumes generated by the upcoming new production systems. This deep dive will provide valuable insights into the company's data management capabilities and its preparedness to scale effectively.

Alan Mislove highlights how through his positions serving as the deputy US Chief Technology Officer for privacy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy he helps in coordinating federal government technology pro policy and priorities. Mislove shares how his team is committed to using tech and data to support the public interests, ensuring that technology works for every member of the public in protecting our safety and security and gives real world examples of that.

Generative AI (GenAI), Large Language Models (LLMs), and Semantic Search represent a giant technological leap forward. These technologies are changing how your employees & customers interact with their data and what they get out of your product or service. The AI space is changing rapidly but one thing is certain: all technologists and developers need to understand the fundamentals of GenAI and how to build products that utilize its strengths.

This workshop (divided into four seperate videos) will cover the fundamentals of GenAI, intermediate topics like vector embeddings and Semantic Search, and advanced applications using LLMs like Retrieval Augmented Generation. Our goal is to enable your team to tackle your company’s own GenAI projects, so they can deliver them faster and better. Your developers will walk away with a strong understanding of the space and hands-on experience.