New IGCC Project To Enhance Research Security Within the UC System
As science, technology, and innovation play an increasingly pivotal role in geo-strategic competition, U.S. academic collaborations with foreign researchers are facing intensifying scrutiny. A recent report by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Education and Workforce Committee and Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party claims that China exploited joint research projects with U.S. universities to strengthen its military. The report’s six cases include UCLA and UC Berkeley, where, according to the report’s authors, research partnerships helped China modernize its military through dual-use strategic technology research.
The University of California is a prominent actor within the global innovation ecosystem, and its research capabilities are a key asset in maintaining U.S. technological leadership. UC researchers manage more than $173 million across ten campuses in the study of artificial intelligence; more than $1 billion in quantum-related research; and nearly $9 billion in the field of biotechnology, among other areas. The UC-managed national labs—Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and Los Alamos—are the only National Nuclear Security Administration laboratories in the United States.
While steadfast in its commitment to open scientific inquiry that advances the frontiers of human knowledge, the University of California is cognizant of the risks that such research could pose to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness.
For this reason, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) has launched an effort to bolster research security throughout the UC system, with an eye toward reinvigorating the U.S. national innovation system for an era of intensifying geopolitical competition. Led by the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), the effort will bring together faculty from across the UC system to systematically analyze the benefits and risks of international cooperation.
“The University of California is an engine of innovation which enhances U.S. economic competitiveness and our national security,” says Theresa Maldonado, vice president of the Office of Research and Innovation at UCOP. “With the world-class research produced by UC scholars comes a responsibility to ensure that our scientific achievements don’t fall into the wrong hands.”
The University of California benefits from international collaboration through highly skilled foreign-born scientists working at its campuses and labs, the two-way dissemination of basic research through international journals, and partnerships with universities abroad. Understanding how to mitigate security risks while preserving the quality of the University of California’s research is eminently in the U.S. national interest.
“Research security is a monumentally important topic at this moment, and it is critical for the UC to provide thought leadership on this issue,” says Tai Ming Cheung, IGCC director and leader of the project alongside UC Berkeley distinguished professor Vinod K. Aggarwal. They note: “IGCC has an opportunity to identify what the risks are, gather the input of researchers on how to deal with them, and chart a path forward to ensure continued research excellence while safeguarding U.S. economic and national security interests.”
IGCC’s project will address two sets of key questions. First, it will look at how the UC system should balance the benefits of open science that contributes to the global public good with the risks that research could be used to strengthen adversaries to the detriment of U.S. economic and national security. Second, the project will examine what role the UC system plays in fostering U.S. economic competitiveness, national security, and strategic leadership.
The project will answer these questions through three interrelated lines of inquiry. First, it will define U.S. economic security and the University of California’s role within it. The concepts of security and competitiveness within the U.S. economic and innovation system, as well as which types of technologies are considered “dual use,” have yet to be fully defined. Through a thorough examination of these notions and by situating the UC within the U.S. strategic innovation ecosystem, this work will identify the security strengths, weaknesses, and threats faced by the University of California.
Second, the project will explore the delicate balancing act between the pursuit of open science and maintaining robust research security considering the UC system’s unique exposure to risks related to deteriorating U.S.-China relations. A series of case studies will address specific topics and technological domains such as the security of intellectual property, best practices for partnerships between UC campuses and national labs, and how to optimize research management. The project will also survey UC faculty to determine how to ensure security while preserving academic freedom. Finally, the study will identify lessons from other institutions, including universities and national labs, which also contend with research security risks.
Research collaboration and open science provide enormous benefits to U.S. global leadership in science, technology, and innovation. But as competition between great powers intensifies, it is critical to understand and address the risks to U.S. national security and global economic competitiveness. This University of California initiative will shed light on this critical debate by exploring the nuances inherent in global scientific cooperation and dual-use technology research.
Through an approach that leverages IGCC’s longtime expertise in security, China, and geoeconomics—and in systemwide interdisciplinary collaboration—the project will deliver actionable insights that can enhance the security and competitiveness of the UC system and the U.S. scientific enterprise writ large, maintaining its status as the world’s innovation powerhouse.
Paddy Ryan is senior writer/editor at the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC).
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