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The below is an excellent summary of a conversation I had with Inside GNSS publisher Richard Fischer about the way forward for PNT in the U.S.
Thanks to Richard for this piece and permission to reproduce it in its entirety here.
Preview: The 2025 Assured PNT Summit — A Call for Action Amid Growing Vulnerabilities
As the 5th Annual Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Summit convenes this April in Washington, D.C., national leaders across defense, industry, and academia will gather to address what Dana Goward, the Summit’s long-time moderator, calls “our greatest concern”—the fragility of PNT in the U.S. homeland.
Goward, President of the Resilient Navigation & Timing Foundation, has moderated the Summit for the past five years. Yet he is far more than “just the microphone candy,” as he quips. A seasoned advocate for robust, layered PNT solutions, Goward sees the Summit as a critical venue to spark the action that has long lagged behind growing awareness of risk. “We’ve got everything we need,” he says. “Except for action.”
This year’s Summit, hosted by the Defense Strategies Institute, brings together top minds and decision-makers in a closed-door, town hall-style forum. Speakers include Admiral Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Michael Guetlein, Vice Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force; and GPS pioneer Dr. Bradford Parkinson.
The agenda is rich and urgent. Sessions range from “Testing Operational Effectiveness & Suitability of PNT Systems” to “Going Beyond Space: Adding Resiliency into Our National PNT Infrastructure,” and “Innovations in Anti-Jamming, Spoofing, and Cybersecurity”. The structure of the Summit reflects the critical need for a resilient, layered, and integrated national PNT architecture—something Goward says must extend beyond defense into the everyday operations of American society.
“The Department of Defense is doing a lot—but we don’t have nearly enough happening here in the U.S. homeland,” Goward cautions. “Outside of a few pockets of excellence in telecom, we are largely unprepared and unprotected.”
The forum will also explore practical paths forward. “It’s time,” Goward argues, “for the federal government to stop admiring the problem and start protecting itself—and by extension, the nation.” He advocates a two-step plan: protect government systems first, then establish public-facing architectures that others can build upon.
Highlighting the Summit’s potential impact, Goward points to Admiral Grady’s keynote. “We’ve never had someone as senior. He brings a big-picture view not just of DOD priorities but of what national direction on PNT might look like.”
Yet building a cohesive national PNT strategy is more than a military issue. It’s an economic and civil imperative. “PNT resiliency,” Goward says, “requires a layered approach—signals from space, terrestrial systems, and fiber—working in concert. It needs to be architected, interoperable, and national in scope.”
Goward acknowledges that competition in industry can be a barrier but believes that clarity from government can unlock innovation. “Once government sets requirements and picks a few services, the rest of us can adapt. Just like GPS did decades ago, a secure PNT foundation can spur a whole new ecosystem.”
While the Summit is closed to press, Goward underscores the importance of extending its impact. “This is a national security issue. It’s not just about fire-and-forget contracts—it’s about sustained, managed effort. And that starts with senior leadership recognizing we have a problem and doing something about it.”
The Assured PNT Summit may not make front-page news—but its role in moving national leadership from awareness to decisive action shape the future of America’s security and infrastructure. To explore the full agenda, confirmed speakers, and how you can engage with this critical conversation, visit pnt.dsigroup.org.
