The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) is an annual conference in Orlando, Florida organized by the National Training and Simulation Association, [1] an affiliate organization of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). I/ITSEC is held at the Orange County Convention Center, a large conference and exhibition center located on Exhibition Drive on the south side of Orlando, Florida.
Peak attendance at I/ITSEC occurred in 2010 and 2011 (see the table in the next section) with approximately 20,000 attendees. Attendance declined to about 14,000 in 2013 and 2014 due to new restrictions with US military and government travel. As a result, conference leaders are taking steps to attract more international attendees, and they have begun expanding I/ITSEC's offerings to appeal to modeling, simulation, and training professionals who work in sectors outside of the defense and security sectors, such as healthcare, civil aviation, transportation, and disaster relief. [2]
The ancestor of I/ITSEC was the “Naval Training Device Center/Industry Conference” in 1966. The conference expanded to include land, air and sea systems and in 1980 the title changed to a more general one. The Orlando area became the predominant location, especially after the construction of the Orange County Convention Center (the second largest such complex in the United States) due to the proximity/availability of nearby hotel lodging, ease of access via Orlando International Airport, and the development of the eastern Orlando / Orange County as the Department of Defense's main hub for modeling, simulation and training with the establishment of the Central Florida Research Park adjacent to the University of Central Florida and the movement of various DoD training and simulation activities from the since closed Naval Training Center Orlando to the newly established Naval Support Activity Orlando within the research park. DoD activities located at this complex in eastern Orlando include the:
- U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (PEO STRI)
- U.S. Army's Synthetic Training Environment Cross-Functional Team (STE CFT)
- U.S. Army's SFC Paul Ray Smith Simulation and Training Technology Center (STTC)
- U.S. Navy's Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCSTD)
- U.S. Marine Corps' Program Manager for Training Systems (PM TRASYS)
- U.S. Air Force's Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation (AFAMS) under Headquarters Air Force and the Air Force & Space Force Modeling & Simulation Innovation Director under the Department of the Air Force Chief of Modeling & Simulation
- U.S. Space Force's modeling, simulation and training activity under the aegis of Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM).
With the exception of the aforementioned USAF activities in Orlando, all others have acquisition authority and life cycle program management responsibility for all training systems in their respective services.
Below is the history of I/ITSEC locations and attendance from 1980: [3]
| Edition | Year | Exhibitors | Attendance | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 2019 | 550 | 17,400 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 39 | 2018 | 491 | 16,500 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 38 | 2017 | 485 | 15,200 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 37 | 2016 | 489 | 17,100 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 36 | 2015 | 470 | 14,700 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 35 | 2014 | 500 | 14,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 34 | 2013 | 400 | 14,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 33 | 2012 | 561 | 16,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 32 | 2011 | 600 | 20,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 31 | 2010 | 595 | 20,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 30 | 2009 | 550 | 18,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 29 | 2008 | 575 | 17,900 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 28 | 2007 | 539 | 16,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 27 | 2006 | 500 | 16,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 26 | 2005 | 500 | 17,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 25 | 2004 | 480 | 16,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 24 | 2003 | 495 | 14,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 23 | 2002 | 460 | 14,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 22 | 2001 | 429 | 12,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 21 | 2000 | 417 | 14,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 20 | 1999 | 347 | 12,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 19 | 1998 | 341 | 3,000 | Orlando, Orange County Exhibition Center |
| 18 | 1997 | 248 | 3,000 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 17 | 1996 | 242 | 3,300 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 16 | 1995 | 229 | 2,700 | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| 15 | 1994 | 212 | 2,608 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 14 | 1993 | 191 | 2,003 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 13 | 1992 | 157 | 1,985 | San Antonio, Texas |
| 12 | 1991 | 162 | 1,954 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 11 | 1990 | 165 | 1,415 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 10 | 1989 | 187 | 1,700 | Fort Worth, Texas |
| 9 | 1988 | 161 | 1,861 | Orlando, Marriott |
| 8 | 1987 | 96 | 1,976 | Washington, DC |
| 7 | 1986 | 115 | 1,583 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| 6 | 1985 | 96 | 1,976 | Orlando, Sheraton |
| 5 | 1984 | 97 | 1,498 | Washington, DC, Hilton |
| 4 | 1983 | 84 | 1,334 | Washington, DC, Hilton |
| 3 | 1982 | 84 | 1,469 | Orlando, Hyatt |
| 2 | 1981 | 57 | 1,142 | Orlando, Sheraton |
| 1 | 1980 | 39 | 885 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
Each year, I/ITSEC requests submissions for papers and tutorials to be presented at its annual conference. The peer-reviewed process spans half a year as prospective authors must pass multiple quality assurance gates. Authors must first submit an abstract to one of the six sub-committees: education, emerging concepts and innovative technologies, human systems engineering, simulation, training, or the policy, standards, management, and acquisition subcommittee. Each subcommittee consists of government, industry, and academic members. At the abstract meeting, each submission is carefully considered and either accepted or rejected. If accepted, the full paper submission is required a few months later to again be reviewed and either accepted or rejected. Lastly, accepted authors must prepare presentations that are again reviewed by committee members. [4] Abstract submission typically opens in February each year with full, accepted papers due sometime in June and presentations due around September.
If accepted, authors present their tutorials on the first day of the conference (always held on a Monday). Speakers present their papers during concurrent sessions, held across the subsequent three days of the conference (Tuesday-Thursday). Finally, on the last day of the conference (Friday), invited speakers present special workshops, which are like the Monday tutorials but longer. Typically, each conference includes more than 160 of these educational sessions or special events. Attendees can earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) [5] at the tutorials, Friday workshops, [6] and all paper sessions.
The conference includes an exhibit hall, which typically comprises approximately 192,000 square feet and features over 550 organizations and agencies. In addition to commercial vendors, academic institutions and military agencies typically have exhibit hall booths. Frequently, organizations and agencies bring demonstrations of their technology wares. Previous exhibit displays have included: Computer-Based 3D graphics, Flight Simulators (fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and tilt-rotor), Live/Virtual/Constructive (LVC) training systems for air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon ranges, armored vehicle / tank crew simulators, Convoy Trainers, aircraft and vehicle maintenance trainers, dismounted small unit ground combat simulators, command & control center simulations, first-person shooter simulators, shipboard simulators, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), SCORM, Information Technology, Advanced Distributed Learning, Aerospace, Communications, and Public Safety training systems. Annually, the NTSA publishes short video clips of notable booths on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/NTSAToday
Each year I/ITSEC hosts a series of special events that reflect emerging topics in the modeling, simulation, and training domain. Special events are devised by the committee members who organize the conference, and special event participants receive invitations versus completing the peer-reviewed paper/tutorial submission process. In 2015 there were 18 Special Events (a mix of Signature Events, Floor Events, and Focus Events) that included topics such as Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC), How to predict and manage Black Swan events, artificial intelligence for social interaction simulation, transmedia learning, geospatial environment database standards, cybersecurity, and an Ignite (event) session with invited speakers. [7] Frequently, these special events involve discussion panels, with high-ranking military and civilians personnel among the invited panelists. For instance, each year the conference includes a special event, called the “Congressional Modeling and Simulation Event,” where elected official discusses M&S policies; similarly, another special event, called the “General/Flag Officer Panel,” included active duty military officers and government civilians from the general/flag officer or Senior Executive Service echelons, often including the service chiefs and/or service secretaries from those services.
The Serious Games Showcase and Challenge is a competition and a showcase event that was created to encourage video game developers to create products that are useful for non-entertainment purposes. [8] The annual event, made its first appearance as an exhibit space at I/ITSEC in 2006. The event accepts games from universities, businesses, and government organizations as entries in competition for awards prizes. Each year the event awards a Special Emphasis Award, Students’ Choice Award, Best Business Game, Best Student Game, Best Government Game, Best Mobile Game, and finally, attendees at the conference can also vote on the People's Choice Award.
I/ITSEC presents annual awards in the following areas:
Below are the Best Paper and Best Tutorial winners for the past 10 years. To see the full archive of winners, see the Best Paper and Best Tutorial I/ITSEC page.
| Year | Best Paper | Author(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Simulating Augmented Reality Spatial Accuracy Requirements for Target Acquisition Tasks | John Graybeal, Rachel Nguyen, Todd Du Bosq |
| 2018 | Understanding Cloud-Based Visual System Architectures | Jeanette Ling |
| 2017 | Human Systems and Instructional System Design for a Simulator of a Robotic Surgical System | Danielle Julian, Roger Smith, Ph.D., Alyssa Tanaka, Ariel Dubin |
| 2016 | Human Performance Analysis and Engineering: Novel Process for Developing Metrics that Measure what Police Do | Bryan Vila, Ph.D., Stephen James, Ph.D., Lois James, Ph.D. |
| 2015 | Cyber Operational Architecture Training System (COATS) - Cyber for All | David Wells, Ph.D., U.S. Pacific Command's Cyber War Innovation Center, Derek Bryan |
| 2014 | Institutionalizing Blended Learning into Joint Training: A Case Study and Ten Recommendations | David Fautua, Ph.D., Sae Schatz, Ph.D., Emilie Reitz, Patricia Bockelman |
| 2013 | Medical Holography for Basic Anatomy Training | Matthew Hackett, ARL/HRED STTC |
| 2012 | Making Good Instructors Great: USMC Cognitive Readiness and Instructor Professionalization Initiatives | Sae Schatz, Ph.D., Kathleen Bartlett, Nicole Burley, MESH Solutions; Capt David Dixon, USMC, Kenneth A. Knarr, LtCol Karl Gannon, USMC |
| 2011 | A Game AI Approach to Autonomous Control of Virtual Characters | by Kevin Dill, Lockheed Martin |
| 2010 | Simulated Clinical Environments and Virtual System-of-Systems Engineering for Health Care | Frank Boosman, Robert J. Szczerba, Ph.D., Lockheed Martin |
| Year | Best Tutorial | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Superforecasting: Proven Practices for Leveraging Human Ingenuity | S.K. Numrich, Ph.D. |
| 2018 | The Science of Thrills: M&S in the Entertainment Industry | Kevin F. Hulme, Ph.D, CMSP, Emmanuel Torres Gil, Chistopher Hendrick, Shathushan Sivashangaran |
| 2017 | The Essential Guide to Cyberspace Training | David Wells, Ph.D., U.S. Pacific Command's Cyber War Innovation Center, Derek Bryan |
| 2016 | Virtual Reality: Challenges and Solutions for Useful Simulation Training | Thomas Talbot, M.D., Skip Rizzo, Ph.D., USC Institute for Creative Technologies |
| 2015 | Elevate your Instruction: Practical Methods to Maximize Military Learning | Sae Schatz, Ph.D., Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) |
| 2014 | Bridging the Gap: How to Build Effective Game-based Training | Cannon-Bowers, Ph.D., Clint Bowers, Ph.D., Katelyn Procci, Skilan Ortiz, Jennifer Loglia, Budd C. Darling, III, Cubic Advanced Learning Solutions |
| 2013 | Model Verification and Validation Methods | Mikel D. Petty, Ph.D. University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| 2012 | Distributed Simulation Fundamentals | by Margaret L. Loper, Ph.D., Georgia Tech Research Institute |
| 2011 | Why Games Work—The Science of Learning | by Curtiss Murphy, Alion Science and Technology |
| 2010 | Return on Investment (ROI) | by Edward J. Degnan, Ph.D., LTC USA Ret, Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation |
The NTSA confers professional achievement awards at the I/ITSEC conference to individuals, organizations, or project teams that have made significant contributions to the M&S discipline. These include the following categories: training, analysis, acquisition, cross-function (multiple uses), and individual/lifetime achievement. [9]
The NTSA established a Fellows recognition award in 2010. Conference leaders bestow the "I/ITSEC Fellow" title to an influential person whose contributions have fundamentally shaped contemporary simulation and training capabilities. Individuals receive this recognition by being nominated and meeting conference leadership's standards for merit; consequently, the number of Fellow awards varies by year. [10] [11]
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Robert Sottilare, Ph.D. |
| 2024 | Winston “Wink” Bennett, Ph.D. |
| 2023 | James Wall, Ph.D. |
| 2022 | Warren Katz |
| 2021 | LTC Frederick E. “Fred” Hartman, USA (Ret.) |
| 2019 | Richard Fujimoto, Ph.D. |
| 2018 | S.K. “Sue” Numrich, Ph.D., CMSP |
| 2017 | Henry C. “Hank” Okraski |
| 2015 | Duncan (Duke) Miller, Ph.D. |
| 2014 | Andy Ceranowicz, Ph.D. |
| 2013 | Colonel James E. Shiflett, USA (Ret) |
| 2011 | General Paul F. Gorman, USA (Ret) |
| 2010 | Colonel Jack Thorpe, USAF (Ret), Ph.D. |
| 2010 | Paul K. Davis, Ph.D. |
Since 1990, the conference has awarded academic scholarships to graduate students. In 2019, the conference started to award scholarships to undergraduate students as well.
During I/ITSEC, the NTSA conducts outreach to students and teachers, primarily from the K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Outreach programs include the following:
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