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Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology - Mass High Tech
The Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative has shortened its name and expanded its focus -- which now includes the other five New England states.
The group, now known simply as the Defense Technology Initiative, said its mission is to create jobs and increase the New England defense community's political clout with the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.
DTI's executive director, retired U.S. Air Force General Donald Quenneville, said the regional scope would help the organization's efforts to bring the U.S. Air Force Cyber Command to Massachusetts. He also said it would better leverage regional resources such as the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and the Cyber Conflict Studies Association at Norwich University in Vermont.
"I think sometimes it's a matter of reminding (the military) of what's in their own back yard," Quenneville said.
Waltham-based DTI was founded as a military base preservation group in 2003 by the Massachusetts High Technology Council. The group's initial goal was to keep the Natick Soldier Systems Center and Hanscom Air Force Base from being closed during the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission process.
DTI plans to work with business development groups in other states, including the New Hampshire High Technology Council, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., TechMaine and the Connecticut Technology Council. The group is still seeking a partner in Vermont.
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