Emerging technologies are creating the potential for new, asymmetric, and unpredictable threats in areas such as cybersecurity, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and autonomy, and climate change. In order to address these emerging threats, the U.S. national security science and technology (S&T) enterprise must become more agile, responsive, and resilient.
Recently the Obama Administration released a new report from the National Science and Technology Council titled A 21st Century Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for America’s National Security. The strategy calls for the modernization of the national security S&T enterprise to ensure:
- The ability to access the best talent in the world for the national security mission;
- Proactive and collaborative investments in specialized facilities necessary for critical national security science and technology needs;
- Intelligent management of the business of national security science and technology, and associated risks, to achieve the best outcomes as an enterprise; and
- Adoption of transformative frameworks and innovative practices from the private sector, where it makes sense to do so for the national security mission.