#167 Kevin Gates on the IPA President Search

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.

During this episode, Mr. Kevin Gates discusses IPA’s accomplishments over the past few years during his tenure as IPA’s President. He also discusses IPA’s search for his replacement. Find a link for more information about IPA’s President search on IPA’s homepage; applications are due no later than 15 Oct 2023. IPA will announce the new President in Dec 2023.

Research Question: Kevin Gates suggests an interested student examine how strategic culture affects our approach to operating in the information environment (MISO, persuasion, deception, marketing, everything)?

Resources:

• Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
  • #76 Yuval Levin on the Constitution & Institutions
  • #62 Jonathan Rauch on the Constitution of Knowledge
• Global Psychological Conflict by Ralph Sanders and Fred R. Brown
• A Psychological Warfare Casebook by Professor William E. Daugherty
• Cooperation and Competition Among Primitive Peoples by Margaret Mead
• Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast with Tyler Mahan Coe
• Propaganda Universe Youtube Channel

Link to full show notes and resources

Guest Bio:

Kevin Gates is a Professional Staff Member with the Senate Armed Services Committee since March 2022, with a portfolio that includes DoD S&T programs and acquisition policy. Prior to that since December 2017, Kevin Gates was serving as the Vice President for Advanced Concepts at Strategic Analysis, Inc, a professional technology services and consulting company. In that role, he is responsible for managing a corporate division with contracts across the Navy, Defense Health Agency and Office of the Secretary of Defense. He had day-to-day responsibility for managing contracts and workforce across the division, as well as articulating and pursuing a strategy for maintaining high standards of customer service, and growth into new technology sectors and customer sets. He also provided direct client support to the Director of the Defense Laboratories & Personnel Office in USD(R&E), the Defense Science Board, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane in the areas of microelectronics, spectrum warfare, hypersonics and strengthening the innovation ecosystem. 

Prior to that role, he worked as a Professional Staff Member for the House Armed Services Committee since March 2007, responsible for the Information Technology (IT) and cyber operations portfolio, as well as the Science and Technology (S&T) portfolio. He previously worked for 8 years at Strategic Analysis, Inc of Arlington, Virginia for a variety of clients within the DoD science & technology community (including DARPA, ONR and the Defense Science Board), as well as the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency within DHS(S&T) and the intelligence community. 

He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with BAs in History and International Studies, and has a MA from Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. He is the co-author of a chapter on critical infrastructure protection in Volume III of Homeland Security: Protecting America’s Targets, James Forest (ed.), 2006. He also served as an industry advisor to the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (since January 2021), a member of the Laboratories Assessment Board for the National Academy of Science (since March 2021), Engineering and Medicine, and President of the Board of Trustees for the Information Professionals Association (since December 2018), a 501(c)(6) supporting education and workforce development for the information warfare and cognitive security community.

About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.

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