Eastern Defense Summit to be held in Charleston this December, as one of the largest defense conferences in U.S. undergoes rebrand Formerly the CDCA Defense Summit

Formerly the CDCA Defense Summit, the rebrand is meant to attract a wider audience of military and defense organizations to the annual summit, which is held each December. This year’s conference will focus on emerging threats from nations and groups worldwide.

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Charleston Defense Contractors Association (CDCA) announced Monday that they are rebranding their annual CDCA Defense Summit to appeal to a wider audience of defense contractors, government, and military organizations. The conference will now be called the Eastern Defense Summit, a CDCA event.

The inaugural Eastern Defense Summit is scheduled to be held on December 6 and 7, 2023 at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, SC.

After nearly two decades of bringing together defense industry leaders from across the U.S. Southeast, this year, CDCA’s footprint will expand to the Eastern United States as a whole, allowing CDCA to connect more experts in the defense industry and allowing them to collaborate in their missions of protecting the United States from foreign threats.

The CDCA has collaborated with the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic (NIWC LANT) for more than a decade to present an annual conference and will continue to collaborate with these partners and several others to present the Eastern Defense Summit later this year.

The 2023 Eastern Defense Summit’s theme will be “collaborating on actionable solutions for our nation’s pacing threats” and will highlight the growing threats from foreign entities around the world. This theme represents the necessity to envision and deliver on near-term solutions to meet such challenges at an accelerated pace.

World-leading experts from across the Department of Defense, Information Warfare community, Intelligence community, industry, and academia will gather in Charleston in early December to better understand and address the challenges and threats faced within the defense ecosystem today. The Eastern Defense Summit presented by CDCA is one of the largest defense-focused events on the East Coast.

The Eastern Defense Summit serves as a mechanism for defense and industry leaders to collaborate on innovative solutions and other focus areas that enhance interoperability across defense assets. By presenting exhibit demos, keynote addresses, innovation spotlights, and high energy tech exchanges, the Summit will provide an opportunity for all representatives to form partnerships that enable a national defense tactical edge which no foreign adversary can match.

The Eastern Defense Summit will be an immersive and collaborative in-person event located at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, SC, a short drive from the Charleston International Airport. The convention center is conveniently located within walking distance to several hotels, restaurants, shopping, and other attractions. The Innovation Pitch Jam will remain a keystone event of the Eastern Defense Summit in December. Click on the Innovation Pitch Jam link above for more information.

About CDCA For over 20 years the Charleston Defense Contractors Association (CDCA) has supported the defense community in the Charleston metro area, South Carolina, and the Southeast U.S. The Charleston Defense Contractors Association (CDCA) is a Nonprofit, 501(c)(6) business corporation in South Carolina that advocates to preserve, strengthen, and grow the Charleston defense industry through partnership and collaboration with stakeholders and our community. While based in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, the impact of the CDCA extends far beyond Charleston. The CDCA also provides input on issues and initiatives to the broader community in such areas as education, small business mentoring, and congressional affairs. To learn more about CDCA or to join, click here.