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Gordon you Penn edu Northrop Grumman is
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a global company which we deal with
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security solutions for the vast
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challenges that many nations and many
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governments have we look at that in
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really three ways one is we provide
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systems for military dominance secondly
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we provide systems that provide for a
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regular warfare which is a very big
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challenge in today's world and thirdly
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we provide solutions for what we call
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securing the commons and it's critical
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infrastructure protection its
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cybersecurity its space it's the open
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oceans it's the way to keep populations
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people and government safe and secure
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and able to continue the things that
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they need to do
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well on our particular company we have a
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very strong cash flow so the financial
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crisis from that aspect has not affected
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us at all there are the broader effects
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of the government in which we have
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running a deficit in the United States
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government right now and so that has led
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some to believe that there may be some
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sort of fall out and spending on
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security while I think there will be a
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government pressures in order to try to
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make sure they spend that money wisely I
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do believe that security is an important
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issue the nation will continue to spend
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on security and we think there's a
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bright future for our company and for
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the types of solutions we bring
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we started a process six months a year
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ago in which we ask ourselves the
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question what could happen in the world
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in the next year or two to ten years and
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we routinely do that with our senior
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leadership and for example we asked
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ourselves what would happen if there was
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a global economic crisis and we laid out
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a number of steps that we would do take
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on if that came to bear and as it turned
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out a lot of those things came to
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fruition and we had a plan in place for
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what we would go do and we're executing
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that plan we first laid out what would
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be the signposts what would be the
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things that would indicate to us that
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the world was starting to go in that
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direction and then we kept tract and
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look for those I posts and as we saw it
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starting going in that direction we then
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said what are the products that are
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going to be needed despite this crisis
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what are the products that might be the
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types of things that might not be needed
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as much and what are the products that
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are going to be new things that the
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government is going to need as we're
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going through this situation and we have
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developed campaigns or strategies in
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each one of those on how we can offer
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technologically differentiated solutions
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to many problems with that crisis going
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on listening to our customer and knowing
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what their problems are is really vital
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to our business we spend a lot of time
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with our customers understanding their
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needs so that we can respond better to
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what they do need
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we have a robust investment in research
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and development first of all but
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secondly it goes back to what you
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mentioned before it's knowing our
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customer and knowing the types of things
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that they are worried about you know
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what is my customer worried about at
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night what keeps them sleepless and
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those are the things that we want to get
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out in front of invest in and let me
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just mention one cybersecurity we have
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become a nation so invested in digital
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technologies should someone find a way
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to take those digital technologies down
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it would be a great damage to our nation
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from a security economic and many other
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aspects so we know that our customer is
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worried about that so we have put a lot
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of resources against looking for
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solutions in that area
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education is communications
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communications that's it if you get
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people together and give them a forum
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where they can speak freely with their
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ideas and not be criticized but take new
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ideas and open them and embrace them and
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really expose them to the light of day
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in a fair and honest way then people do
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that more so the more you can encourage
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that type of communication instead of
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just old think the more you get people
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involved and I'm a believer that two
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heads are better than one and 100 heads
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are better than than just one now the
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challenge is to take all those ideas and
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then make them into an action plan and
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so that's the second step of it because
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just getting a lot of ideas and writing
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really on a piece of paper doesn't do
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you any good taking the best and
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brightest of those ideas and putting the
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resources against implementing them has
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to be a neck down process and you have
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to do that in a way that people see and
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there's transparency in it and they
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understand why those decisions are made
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if you encourage those types of things
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you can have that cannot type of
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communication but it's something that
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you have to work on every day just
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because you did it last month doesn't
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mean it's going to continue again so you
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need people that are constantly looking
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from that aspect and encouraging it
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I think that as the new administration
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thinks through what the strategies will
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be there will be some shift and where
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they put their emphasis I think the
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major challenge is keeping track of that
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and staying ahead vet and offering
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solutions in the new ideas area of the
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things that they will be worried about
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in the future and actually getting out
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of it in front of it in enough time so
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that you can really respond in a timely
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manner that's what's really important
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