As the United States enters an unprecedented "Mega-Event" cycle, traditional silos of federal and local jurisdiction are evolving into a Unified Command Architecture. This session explores the technical roadmap for securing the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics—high-profile SEAR 1 and NSSE-designated events that demand seamless interagency data sharing and multi-jurisdictional coordination.

At the center of this transformation is Artificial Intelligence (AI), acting as a critical force-multiplier for secure communications. From the State Department’s FIFA PASS initiative—which streamlines visa processing for international ticket holders—to the integration of Zero Trust principles across 11 host cities, AI is a key enabler of a "Secure Welcome." However, AI also represents a new frontier of risk. This panel will dissect AI’s triple role as an operational enabler (automated call-triage and real-time talkgroup translation), a defensive shield (anomaly detection in encrypted mission-critical traffic), and a threat multiplier (AI-driven reconnaissance and adversarial machine learning attacks against communication infrastructure).

Experts from the DoJ/FBI, CISA, the State Department, and the U.S. Secret Service will discuss hardening the "Digital Airspace" against drone threats and ensuring that first responders maintain a common operating picture through AI-augmented, interoperable networks.

Potential Discussion Topics

• The Secure-Comms Baseline for 2026+: Navigating the shift toward hybrid, encrypted, and broadband-reliant P25 and FirstNet environments.
• Unified Command & The FIFA PASS Initiative: How the Department of State leverages AI to expedite visa approvals for international fans without compromising national security vetting.
• Zero Trust & Operational AI: Implementing CISA’s Zero Trust Framework in multi-jurisdictional environments to ensure data provenance for real-time telemetry.
• The Secret Service Interoperability Challenge: How the lead NSSE agency utilizes "low-intrusion" AI—such as automated transcription—to augment officer judgment during mission-critical events.
• Defending the Digital Airspace: Utilizing DHS-led UAS and C-UAS (drone) technologies to protect the RF environment from AI-driven interference.
• Governing the AI Risk Multiplier: Applying the NIST AI Risk Management Framework to harden Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) against agentic AI cyber-attacks.
• The Posture of Resilience: How the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) is pushing for "kill-switch" failsafes to ensure mission continuity if an AI component misbehaves.
• Optimizes deployment of limited resources, predicting crime and threat patterns at national, regional, and local levels and enabling proactive repositioning of personnel and specialized units in anticipation of elevated risks driven by seasonality, socio-economic cycles, geopolitical events, or large-scale gatherings.

Attendees will gain insight into how agencies are leveraging transparent, explainable AI as a decision-support capability—not autonomous decision-making—to safeguard civil liberties while improving threat detection, response times, officer safety, workforce balance, and overall national security resilience.