NORTH CHARLESTON S.C (WCBD)– Hundreds of people attended the Eastern Defense Summit at the Charleston Area Convention Center to discuss the country’s most pressing threats and our defense strategy.

The Eastern Defense Summit Conference, formerly known as the Charleston Defense Contractor’s Association Defense Summitt, is one of the largest defense-focused events on the East Coast.

Over a thousand experts from the government, academia, and defense industry will spend the two days discussing defense challenges and innovative solutions.

This year’s theme was collaborating on actionable solutions for our nation’s pacing threats.

This year’s major topic was technology and how it is changing warfare and national security across the globe and what the defense industry is doing to stay ahead of the game.

“The technology land is changing rapidly in many industries, including the defense industry, so this conference is focused on getting at that and making sure we’re ahead. Because if we don’t stay ahead of the technology, someone else will, and we want to ensure that for America,” said the president of Charleston Defense Contractors Association,” Gary Jaffe.

The Summit runs through Thursday, December 7.