I/ITSEC 2020 Goes Virtual and SGS&C Marks 15 Years

I/ITSEC is the yearly conference of the modeling, simulation and training industry, held in Orlando, Florida, and organized by the National Training & Simulation Association (NTSA). In 2020 the association waited until September 1 and then canceled the live show because of safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. A week later it announced vIITSEC, a virtual version on the dates originally planned, under the theme The Future Is Now.

The online platform was to carry technical papers, tutorials and special events, along with a virtual exhibit hall where companies could meet the training, simulation and education community. Details on registration, exhibiting and sponsorship were to follow on the vIITSEC website.

The contest traces back to the end of the 2005 I/ITSEC, when Capt. Larry McCracken, a Naval Air Warfare commanding officer, asked for a special event. Government buyers were unsure of games as teaching media, industry saw potential but doubted that serious games formed a market, and students did not yet see games as a career. Nothing like the Independent Games Festival at the Game Developers Conference existed for training games, and I/ITSEC looked like the natural venue.

The first Showcase & Challenge ran in fall 2006 under NTSA sponsorship, led by Kent Gritton as chair and Curtis Conkey as deputy chair, both of NAWCTSD. It aimed at small "garage" developers, with limits on company size and finances and a ban on government-funded entries.

The contest's own site says no traditional challenge took place in 2020, so there are no 2020 finalists or winners. Instead the anniversary was marked with an on-demand retrospective inside vIITSEC 2020, which told the story of the event through past finalists, winners, leaders and sponsors.

The challenge is still running in November 2026. The 2020 recap names the leadership team of that year: Jennie Ablanedo of UCF as industry chair, Ben Little of PEOSTRI as government lead and Jenn McNamara of BreakAway Games as director. The home page says submissions for 2026 are closed and that finalists show at I/ITSEC in Orlando from November 30 to December 3, at booth 2281, and it features the 2025 finalists week by week, among them Becoming Fei, Cyber H20, Dragonfly 2 and Life As A. The vIITSEC address now forwards to the main iitsec.org address.