George Mason University Korea said on the 2nd that it held the "2026 defense C5I & AI convergence development conference" on the 1st at the Defense Convention in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, jointly with the Defense Information & Communications Association and the Army Association.
The event was prepared to explore development directions for artificial intelligence (AI) in the defense field and command, control, communications and information (C5I), and cybersecurity technologies, and to strengthen a cooperative framework to respond to changes in the future battlefield environment.
Held under the theme "The pinnacle of defense innovation: the great meeting of AI and C5I," the event was attended by Army Association of the Republic of Korea President Eom Gi-hak and Army Headquarter's Planning Staff for Informatization Director Yu Seung-ha, as well as officials from major institutions and corporations in the defense and defense industry fields, including the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Hanwha Systems, and academic experts.
Sessions covered a wide range of core technologies and strategies to respond to future battlefields, including AI-based command-and-control systems and next-generation defense infrastructure construction, cybersecurity for JADC2 implementation, AI-Ready Secure Networking, moving target defense (MTD), and defense information protection and security guardrails in Generative AI environments.
At the venue, 15 exhibition booths, including the C5I hall, AI hall and cyber hall, were operated, allowing participants to directly examine new defense technologies and demonstration models and discuss technology exchange and cooperation plans.
Based on its C5I research capabilities that established the world's first academic theoretical framework for command and control (C2) in the 1980s, George Mason University has carried out major defense projects for the Ministry of National Defense of the United States and NATO for more than 40 years.
Building on these capabilities, the university opened the "C5I Korea Center" in Korea this year and is promoting Korea-U.S. defense AI cooperation and international joint research.
Shin In-seop, head of the C5I Korea Center at George Mason University, said, "With the advent of AI, a great transformation is being heralded not only in the way humanity lives but also in the way wars are fought," adding, "I expect this conference, prepared through military-industry-academia collaboration, to serve as a practical foundation for our military's defense innovation and improvements in tactical operations."
Campus Dean Joshua K. Park of George Mason University Korea said, "Based on the Korea-U.S. academic network, we will expand education and research in AI, data and cybersecurity, and continue to contribute to nurturing talent and international cooperation to lead future defense innovation."