Industry, Innovation, and Policy in Uncertain Times, 2026 DC ISA Conference

George Kwiecinski, co-founder of KeyPedia™, a GKS Company, attended the 2026 Industry Studies Association (ISA) Conference in Washington, DC on June 4, 2026. What follows is a short, non-exhaustive recap of the event, shaped in part by George's own time on the program.

The conference explored how industry dynamics evolve under uncertainty, and how innovation and policy together shape competition, welfare, and long-term resilience. Discussion spanned seven tracks, from healthcare and pharma to AI-driven transformation, supply chains, labor, public policy, and sustainable innovation.

George sat in on three sessions across the day.

Left to right: John Gray, David Light, Adam Clark Joseph, George Kwiecinski.

Session 1: Drug Quality and Safety

Zach Wright, Brigham Young University. An assistant professor of operations management at BYU Marriott with a PhD from Ohio State Fisher, Wright chaired the session and presented "Preannounced Regulatory Inspections: FDA Oversight and Drug Quality Risk," co-authored with John Gray (Ohio State), In Joon Noh (Korea University), and George Ball (Indiana Kelley). The paper digs into the FDA's 2022 unannounced-inspection pilot in India and asks whether pre-announcing a visit hides what is really happening on a manufacturing line.

Miranda Janvrin, Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. Working with Professor Tracey Pérez Koehlmoos of the Uniformed Services University, Janvrin presented two papers from the CHSR pharmaceutical supply chain portfolio: the PhaSQ pilot study on the security and quality of the Military Health System drug supply, and a companion paper on a proposed generic quality-scoring tool for the U.S. and military health systems. The most interesting piece was the sentiment-based survey analysis comparing government, academia, and industry.

George Kwiecinski, KeyPedia™. George presented "The Foreign Inspection Gap: FDA GMP Oversight of U.S. Drug Imports, 2014–2024", focusing on two measurements from the paper. The enforcement imbalance between foreign and domestic facilities is well established, but the paper pushes further, pegging inspection volume to the value or volume of drugs a country actually ships into the U.S. And even Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) countries face these imbalances, since the data sharing behind them is hard to study or see from the outside. Ireland, for one, has seen large shifts in domestic industry and drug product exports. Both points are captured through two newly proposed metrics:

• Inspection intensity
• Inspection outcomes

The paper works as an analysis following a 2025 announcement, when the agency recognized that foreign-based inspections were unfair compared to domestic ones and noted changes to the inspection program. Its purpose was to use past data to establish ways to measure the success, or lack thereof, of that shift.

Session 2: National Security Impacts of Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Resiliency (Room SC-309)

A panel on the national security stakes of the U.S. and Military Health System drug supply, moderated by Tracey Koehlmoos (Center for Health Services Research, Uniformed Services University), whose team is mapping the Department of War pharmaceutical supply chain. A memorable framing from her: the DoD provides care for roughly 10 million people, about 10% of whom are active duty, a massive care base for the system.

Panelists:

• John Gray, PhD, MBA (Fisher College of Business, Ohio State)
• Mariana Socal, MD, PhD (Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins), who leads the Johns Hopkins prescription drug supply chain dashboard
• Marta Wosińska, PhD (The Brookings Institution)
• Gabriella Mannino, PhD (U.S. Pharmacopeia)

The discussion kept returning to transparency gaps, what agencies and industry can do before the next disaster or conflict, and how to weigh short-term procurement against long-term investment in domestic manufacturing.

Session 3: Panel on Strategic Government Procurement (Room SC-Amp.)

A Public Policy and Global Competitiveness panel moderated by Susan Helper (Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve).

Panelists:

• Anna Waldman-Brown, U.S. Office of Management and Budget (Made in America Office), with a research background at MIT
• James Coburn, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Mathew Blum, Office of Federal Procurement Policy

The conversation covered how the government can buy more effectively and source more domestically, including friendshoring and the concentration of active pharmaceutical ingredients in India. The most impactful takes were twofold.

First, the latex glove example: of the dollars invested in standing up domestic latex glove production during COVID, almost none were actually made, and none have continued to be made since. A pointed question about the efficiency of those dollars.

Second, procurement is not just a "need it, then buy it" transaction. Other factors deserve weight in the decision.

There is also ample room for harmonization across government procurement. For example, the TSA has moved to procure fentanyl-proof gloves, while the DEA, the agency most often on the front lines handling the substance, has not.

Takeaways

There was clear consensus, both at this conference and at the Senate hearing attended the day prior, "Poisoned Pills: The Human Cost of Foreign Drugs", that drug supply chain security carries real and pressing problems, alongside questions about the quality and speed with which we enforce and mobilize against them. Some of the solutions were apparent too: drug testing, better facility risk capture and scoring, and other internal methods that could help.

Disclaimer

These notes are the sole opinion and representation of the author, George Kwiecinski, and are not an exhaustive recap of the events, nor a representation of the exact opinions of KeyPedia or Global Key Solutions.