As interference, spoofing and signal disruption continue to move from theoretical risk to operational reality, the 6th Annual Assured PNT Summit arrives at a pivotal time for the positioning, navigation and timing community.
Organized by Defense Strategies Institute, the summit will bring together leaders from the military services, federal government, industry and academia to examine how the United States can strengthen a PNT enterprise that remains essential to military operations, civil infrastructure and commercial activity. The agenda reflects both urgency and breadth: military PNT overmatch, GPS modernization, space resiliency, multi-layered architecture and the need to counter threats to trusted PNT services.
That matters because GPS remains foundational to how the nation functions. It underpins battlefield maneuver, navigation and precision effects, while also supporting power grids, telecommunications networks, transportation systems, financial markets and civilian navigation. But reliance on a single source also creates vulnerability. The summit is designed to address that challenge directly, with attention not only to protecting GPS, but also to advancing complementary and alternative sources of PNT that can sustain operations when signals are degraded or denied.
Dana Goward, moderator of the summit and a longtime advocate for resilient PNT, says the conversation has become more urgent as recent events have made clear just how contested the signal environment has become.
“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East certainly underscores what we’ve seen in the Baltic, what we’ve seen in Ukraine and other conflict areas around the world,” Goward said. “We need to take lessons about the possibilities here in the homeland and the possibilities around the world for civil infrastructure and commerce.”
That broader lens is one of the most important aspects of this year’s event. While assured PNT is often discussed through a military lens, Goward argues that the implications are much wider. The same vulnerabilities that affect warfighters can also affect ports, communications, logistics, energy systems and the broader economy. In that sense, the summit is not simply about protecting a battlefield capability. It is about strengthening a national foundation.
The event will also highlight a point that Goward returns to often: the challenge is no longer just technological. It is also institutional.
“Governance is going to be one of my themes in the program,” he said.
That emphasis is especially timely. The summit’s sessions are expected to explore both mature and emerging technologies, but Goward argues that the United States already has access to many of the tools it needs. The larger issue is alignment: defining requirements properly, coordinating policy and making sure leadership is focused on building a resilient architecture rather than assuming GPS alone is enough.
“I would hope that attendees get an understanding that we need to start taking lessons for the homeland, for our infrastructure and all of our civil applications from what’s happening overseas,” Goward said. “Unlike our major adversaries, we have no complementary and backup capability.”
He added that the reason is “primarily a lack of leadership focus and getting governance process right.”
That message gives the Assured PNT Summit its real significance. This is not just another technical meeting about signal performance or component roadmaps. It is a forum for connecting policy, military requirements and infrastructure resilience in one conversation.
Goward also stresses that complementary systems should not be seen as an argument against GPS. In his view, they are a way to strengthen it.
“GPS is great,” he said. “It’s going to be around for a long time. We’ve got to get the bullseye off of it, and we’ve got to protect the users in the event something happens.”
He argues that resilient PNT will require a systems approach, one that blends space-based services with terrestrial and timing-based capabilities. That is why the summit’s agenda, with its focus on layered architecture and resilience, is likely to resonate well beyond the defense community.
Another theme likely to draw attention is the need to define requirements more intelligently. As Goward puts it, users should not confuse a tool with a requirement.
“My PNT requirement is GPS. Well, no,” he said. “Your requirement is articulated in terms of accuracy, availability, continuity and so forth.”
That distinction may prove central to the discussions ahead. The future of assured PNT will not be determined only by whether individual systems work in isolation, but by whether the nation can build an architecture that continues to support security, infrastructure and commerce under stress.
For attendees, that makes the summit especially relevant. It offers a chance to hear from senior leaders, evaluate the state of current solutions and engage in a more mature conversation about what national resilience in PNT really requires.
Registration is now open. Active-duty U.S. military and government employees may attend on a complimentary basis.
Visit pnt.dsigroup.org for more information.
