Whether through drones delivering urgent medical supplies, air taxis bypassing traffic on Interstate 95, or Seagliders linking flood-prone coastal towns, the Commonwealth is preparing to adapt and help shape the next wave of mobility.

VEDP Executive Vice President Jason El Koubi spoke with Maj. Gen. Ted Mercer, the new CEO and executive director of Virginia Space and the owner and operator of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS). 

Steve Morgan is the founder of Cybersecurity Ventures, a leading cybersecurity research company that provides data and insights on global cybercrime to C-suite executives, and editor-in-chief of Cybercrime Magazine.

VEDP's Megan Healy connected with the Roanoke Regional Partnership's Michelle Williams, the new talent and digital strategies program manager, and Julia Boas, director of business investment, about what the Roanoke Region is doing to attract and retain talent.

Author Philip D’Anieri spoke about the history of the Appalachian Trail inside and outside Virginia, why he chose to cover the trail’s history through a human lens, and the inseparability of urban planning from the natural environment.

Careful planning at The Port of Virginia and other key properties has the Commonwealth poised for development.

VEDP Senior Vice President of Talent and Workforce Strategy Megan Healy spoke with Beard about talent in Virginia and the rest of the country and the ways states and regions can help ensure alignment between skill development and employer needs.

Quokka entered the cybersecurity world with a big reputation — under its previous name, the company landed on the front page of The New York Times after discovering a critical security vulnerability in some Android smartphones that sent user data to Chinese servers. In 2019, the company’s further investigations into mobile apps exposed that the massive social media app TikTok was sending data to China.

Jonathan Zur is president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC), a nonprofit organization that works with schools, businesses, and communities to promote inclusion. VEDP President and CEO Jason El Koubi spoke with Zur about VCIC’s mission, its activities, and the importance of pairing diversity with inclusion.

Virginia’s critical infrastructure is by and large a hardened fortress built on best practices and the talents of among the most forward-thinking workforces in the nation. But more than that, it’s gaining ground when it comes to hardening its critical infrastructure out of the gates — embracing a cyber-first development approach to systems and solutions.