The Navy changes its mind and cancels CIO/IT conference

Just weeks after approving the Department of the Navy’s CIO/information technology conference, which is typically held in conjunction with the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association’s (AFCEA) West conference and exhibition in San Diego, the Navy changed it’s mind and has cancelled the event.

The DON CIO said this in a statement posted to it’s website today: “In response to DoD and DON guidance, the DON IT Conference, West Coast 2013, has been cancelled. The conference was scheduled for Jan. 28-30, 2013, at the San Diego Convention Center. Please cancel all travel and lodging reservations as soon as possible. Several sessions may still be offered via Defense Connect Online (DCO). Details on these sessions are forthcoming.”

Conferences at which military personnel are requested to participate have received enhanced scrutiny in light of the General Service Administration’s extravagant Las Vegas conference last year. In addition, the recent fiscal-cliff agreement didn’t address sequestration, so across-the-board cuts to the military are still a looming possibility.

“It’s a cash flow issue with the current budget,” Navy CIO Terry Halvorsen told Defense Systems as part of an interview that will run in the January/February issue of the magazine. “No one is seeing, frankly, a plan to correct that yet. Events that we were hosting, we will have to cancel.”

AFCEA’s West 2013 is planned for January 29-31 in San Diego, and will continue as scheduled.