Security and Risk of Emerging Technologies Has U.S. Department of Energy Concerned
Openness, Security, and APS Activities to Help Maintain the Balance
Selected notes ~
+ The success of the scientific enterprise of any nation requires maintaining a balance between being openly collaborative and securely competitive. Recently, in the United States, the current balance has been questioned by policymakers and by law enforcement and intelligence officials who are concerned about espionage and intellectual property loss impacting universities, companies, and government agencies.
In addition to that policy, the DOE is developing a “risk matrix”—emerging technologies vs. countries of concern—with policy responses to follow. The emerging technologies include: AI, battery materials, biotechnology, quantum information science, accelerator science, and high performance computing. The countries of concern include: China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
+ Many APS members, particularly those on visas studying or working in the United States, are likely concerned about various actions of U.S. government agencies that can affect the openness of the scientific enterprise.
+ While we have not been presented with any hard data regarding the breadth or impact of possible espionage, in our view the discussions offered compelling anecdotal evidence of cases that have impacted industry, classified research, and applied research. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has documented some of the cases in a publicly accessible document titled “China: The Risk to Academia”.
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