RapidFort, the leader in Software Supply Chain Security (SSCS) with the largest distribution of curated truly open-source software, and SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the United States Space Force, today announced a conference focused on securing America’s AI software supply chain and strengthening national security mission assurance. The conference is being held Thursday, Oct. 8, at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s San Pedro 1 Building, in partnership with the university and its National Security Collaboration Center.

The event convenes industry innovators and national security practitioners to examine how to eliminate software attack vectors at the source, accelerate secure mission software delivery, and prepare critical infrastructure for emerging AI and quantum threats.

Building on the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between RapidFort and SpaceWERX, the conference will provide a forum for connecting commercial expertise with operational requirements. Participants will share technical perspectives and implementation practices to address software security challenges across the national security ecosystem.

Discussions will examine how national security organizations can advance the objectives of DoW Instruction 8430.01, “Accelerated Mission Software,” while maintaining software supply chain security and mission assurance. Participants will explore how commercial capabilities can support faster software delivery, reduce vulnerability exposure, and provide verifiable security evidence to inform mission decisions.

The conference focuses on five areas related to emerging threats and opportunities:

  1. Defensive AI: Outpacing the AI Exploit Window

  2. How The AI Supply Chain Is the New National Security Perimeter

  3. From SBOM to Mission Assurance: Evidence That Actually Changes Risk

  4. Securing the Agentic Enterprise: Identity, Authority, and Blast Radius Best Practices

  5. The 2030 Problem Arrives Early: AI, Quantum, and Critical Infrastructure Best Practices

Across these panels, participants will examine how software transparency and operational evidence can support risk reduction, how identity and authority controls can limit the impact of compromised agentic systems, and how critical infrastructure organizations can prepare for migration to post-quantum cryptography.

“America’s ability to field AI capabilities depends on trust in the software that powers them,” said Austin Sedaghatpour, National Security Lead at RapidFort. “Speed and security must advance together. Our goal is to move beyond discussing risk and focus on practical ways to eliminate software attack vectors at the source. Building on our CRADA with SpaceWERX, this conference connects commercial expertise with operational priorities so warfighters and Guardians can benefit from American innovation without inheriting avoidable software risk.”

RapidFort has a proven commitment to open source and community collaboration, including participation in the Silicon Valley AI and cybersecurity communities and service on the governing board of the Akrites Project. The conference extends this commitment by bringing government and industry practitioners together around shared security priorities.

The conference helps participants identify shared security challenges and opportunities for continued technical collaboration, with a practical focus on reducing software exploitation risk and accelerating secure mission delivery.

About RapidFort

RapidFort leads the Software Supply Chain Security market with the largest distribution of curated, genuinely open-source software. Its platform enables organizations to eliminate risk at scale through hardened near-zero CVE container images, runtime profiling, attack surface management, and the industry’s first independently malware-scanned open-source images – cutting CVE exposure by up to 99.9% without code changes or platform migration. RapidFort is recognized in the inaugural Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Software Supply Chain Security, named a Gartner® Cool Vendor™, and honored as a Nutanix .Next Partner of the Year. The company is backed by Blue Cloud Ventures and Forgepoint Capital and headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. Visit www.RapidFort.com.

About SpaceWERX

As the innovation arm of the United States Space Force and a unique division within AFWERX, SpaceWERX inspires and empowers collaboration with innovators to accelerate capabilities and shape the future in space. SpaceWERX identifies, validates, and transitions dual use technologies from across the commercial space ecosystem to deliver capabilities at speed and scale in a contested domain. In partnership with Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office, SpaceWERX connects innovative technology developers with operational experts, acquisition professionals, and Guardian talent to bridge innovation and acquisition.

RapidFort, RAPIDFORT, and RBOM are registered trademarks of RapidFort, Inc. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

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