On Tuesday September 21, 2021, NDU’s College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC) hosted nationally known defense and international security technology expert Sarah Mineiro in a seminar to explore different aspects of cyberspace including historical, social, technical, political, economic, policy, regulatory.
Private Sector Expert Speaker: Sarah Mineiro, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Defense Program and Senior Director for Space Strategy, Anduril Industries
Linda C. Jantzen, Assistant Professor
National Defense University
College of Information and Cyberspace
Scope
This lesson examines the information environment in the context of political and economic elements that comprise it. Building on the “Cyberspace and its History” lesson, this lesson explores the continuities and the changes in the technology ecosystem from the development of ARPANET to the economic phenomenon known as Silicon Valley.
Key points:
- China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea.
- This increasingly complex security environment is defined by rapid technological change, challenges from adversaries in every operating domain, and the impact on current readiness from the longest continuous stretch of armed conflict in our Nation’s history. In this environment, there can be no complacency—we must make difficult choices and prioritize what is most important to field a lethal, resilient, and rapidly adapting Joint Force. America’s military has no preordained right to victory on the battlefield.
- The central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security is the reemergence of long-term, strategic competition by what the National Security Strategy classifies as revisionist powers.
- The security environment is also affected by rapid technological advancements and the changing character of war. The drive to develop new technologies is relentless, expanding to more actors with lower barriers of entry, and moving at accelerating speed. New technologies include advanced computing, “big data” analytics, artificial intelligence, autonomy, robotics, directed energy, hypersonics, and biotechnology—the very technologies that ensure we will be able to fight and win the wars of the future.
- New commercial technology will change society and, ultimately, the character of war. The fact that many technological developments will come from the commercial sector means that state competitors and non-state actors will also have access to them, a fact that risks eroding the conventional overmatch to which our Nation has grown accustomed. Maintaining the Department’s technological advantage will require changes to industry culture, investment sources, and protection across the National Security Innovation Base.
Note: the National Security Innovation Base is generally taken to mean the high tech community associated with the advanced technologies mentioned in the second to last bullet above, including industry, academic, and government R&D activities. Also note the reference to “changes to industry culture.”
Defense Innovation Unit (formerly DIUx): Launched in 2015 to “strengthen our national security by accelerating the adoption of leading commercial technology throughout the military and growing the national security innovation base” ( https://www.diu.mil/about )
This workshop class is UNCLASSIFIED, private, and not open to the public. For opportunities to engage with the National Defense University, NDU’s five graduate colleges, INSS, NDU’s leadership and professional students, please contact Michelle Buhr, Vice President of Advancement, National Defense University Foundation at Buhr@NDUFoundation.org