AFCEA is the central platform for exchange between industry, government agencies, and institutions of the defense industry. With more than 350 exhibitors, this year's event attracted thousands of experts and decision-makers from IT, cybersecurity, communications, sensor technology, and defense technology to the former German capital over the course of two days. The large number of exhibitors and visitors, the variety of formats, and the practice-oriented expert presentations underline the significance of the trade exhibition for securing the future of the industry.
In 2026, AFCEA presented itself with a diverse event format. In addition to practice-oriented industry presentations that conveyed expert knowledge on technical, operational, and strategic topics, symposia for exchange between specialists and executives were a key focus. Particularly noteworthy is the new format of expert presentations, which specifically highlighted perspectives and innovative approaches from authorities and organizations with military security responsibilities. The goal of all formats is to promote knowledge transfer, discuss current challenges, and address trends such as digitalization, interoperability, and resilience in the defense industry.
The PROSTEP Group was represented in Bonn with its own booth, where we presented our comprehensive range of consulting services and software solutions for the digitalization of engineering to visitors. Another highlight was the presentation by Dr. Martin Holland, Head of Business Development at PROSTEP. He demonstrated in a hands-on manner how integrated digital engineering, Digital Thread, and digital twins can help bring defense programs to operational readiness faster, more securely, and more transparently despite growing system complexity.
During his presentation, Holland explained how the DoD Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) and the DoD Digital Engineering Strategy (DoDI 5000.97) can be leveraged to establish Integrated Digital Environments (IDE) and ensure data integrity across the entire product lifecycle. The presentation provided concrete insights into how sustainable digital engineering environments can be built and how joint venture collaborations can be made more effective in order to increase resilience and competitiveness in defense programs. The basis for transparency across the product lifecycle is provided by digital twins, which enable use cases such as predictive maintenance as well as increased mission readiness, as Holland further explained.
With more than 30 years of experience in Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), the PROSTEP Group supports governments, industry, and joint ventures in translating digital strategies into operational capabilities – from concept to effective operation. From our perspective, AFCEA was a complete success. During the trade fair, we held many interesting discussions with representatives from the defense industry and together with our partners will actively support companies in the sector with the digital transformation of their process and system landscapes. You can learn more about our range of services for the defense industry in our new whitepaper.