Conference Brings Focus on Technology for Doctorate Student
By SARA BELLIGONI
On Dec. 4, Sara Belligoni, a doctorate student in the Security Studies at the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs, participated in the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). I/ITSEC is the largest world conference for modeling, simulation, and training. Conceived as a showcase for the aerospace and military fields, nowadays, I/ITSEC hosts exhibitors developing such technologies in a variety of fields, including healthcare and education.
Belligoni has been selected by UCF Global among the 14 participants granted full access to the exhibit hall and international pavilion. This year’s event accounted for over 16,000 participants, including about 2,000 international ones. With over 60 different countries represented, Sara Belligoni was been honored to represent her home country, Italy, and UCF. She describes participation in the event as: “an outstanding experience for a doctoral student researching in the field of security. Being exposed to such cutting-edge technologies used for training military personnel when responding to crises or simulate combat scenario, is a stimulus for my research focused on strengthening civil-military coordination when responding to human-made emergencies and natural disasters.”
Belligoni believes that technology can be used in the security field for a variety of scopes, from data analysis to simulation-based training, from information sharing to geospatial recognition. Specifically, at the event, she realized that: “There is so much space to further developing simulation-based technologies for training civilians and militaries when working together. One of the projects I was impressed from was recreating a scenario where civilians and militaries coordinate their efforts to respond to a crisis. I believe that technologies able to prepare involved actors to work together in highly-intense situations can serve the overall community.”
Focused on emergency management and civil-military humanitarian coordination, Sara Belligoni has extensive experience using spatial technologies for crisis assessment and geospatial recognition.
“While at the event, I have been able to see the latest progress made by the industry working on spatial and simulation technologies. I do see that crises response are starting to play a key role in stimulating such advancements, including in the healthcare field, which is using simulation technologies to prepare the medical personnel to work in a fast-paced environment such as disaster response,” Belligoni said.
Also, Belligoni appreciated the opportunity to get in touch with other like-minded students from UCF thanks to this opportunity that UCF Global made available to international students.
“As an international student, I always keep in mind that my background and diversity is an added value to any environment I am involved in, either academically or professionally. I thank UCF Global for having made this happening.”