The Trump administration says the nation\u2019s science and technology research ecosystem needs to embrace \u201cnovel security solutions\u201d to ensure the U.S. maintains its global edge, according to a new document publicly released on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The National Security Science and Technology Strategy published by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy outlines how the U.S. innovation sector should be leveraged and guarded to defend the country. The new document builds off last year\u2019s National Security Strategy, which called, in part, for \u201cprotecting the competitiveness of the U.S. economy and bolstering the resilience of the American technology sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
To help safeguard the nation\u2019s innovation sector from threats \u201cthat could impair U.S. economic and military strength and competitiveness,\u201d the strategy calls for \u201capproaches that protect without inhibiting the productivity and agility of the national security S&T enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump previously moved to curtail illicit foreign interference in the nation\u2019s research institutions, most notably through a January 2021 memo that sought to keep adversarial governments from exploiting U.S. science and technology research.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers from both parties have also pushed legislation to limit Chinese involvement in federally-funded research projects, and the Pentagon similarly announced on Monday that it called for 30 U.S. academic institutions to review their ties with foreign entities.<\/p>\n
But the strategy says research institutions need to take further steps to enhance their threat awareness, including conducting \u201cautomated research security vetting\u201d of agency-funded research proposals and performing continuous monitoring of federally-supported projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It also calls for \u201cbolstering counter-intelligence support to governmental and non-governmental research centers\u201d \u2014 which would give researchers more immediate and timely insights into potential threats\u2014and creating \u201crisk-based review criteria and a repository of sharable information to enhance the efficiency of information collection and sharing among agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
It noted, for instance, that the FBI-led Quantum Information Science and Technology Counterintelligence Protection Team \u201cbrings an interagency team of quantum experts and security professionals to fine-tune technology protection and security outreach activities for the quickly evolving quantum R&D community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another section calls for \u201cestablishing cybersecurity guidelines for researchers and research institutions,\u201d although it is sparse on the details of what this would look like. The National Science Foundation, for its part, has a research security policy framework that includes some cyber-specific guidance as part of its broader blueprint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the evolving nature of research security threats, security experts should embrace comprehensive, new, and novel security solutions, particularly where they can be crafted to address unique or nuanced requirements of specific technology fields,\u201d the document said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The strategy\u2019s implementation section highlights the need to enhance K-12 and higher education training opportunities and bring more skilled talent into the federal workforce\u2014an effort the Trump administration has been undertaking, in part, by prioritizing skills-based hiring over degree requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Notably, however, the strategy references the need to attract more nonimmigrant tech workers to the U.S., which differs from the Trump administration\u2019s prior stance that called for a more restrictive approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States will further strengthen its workforce by attracting and retaining top-tier global talent in critical national security S&T fields,\u201d the strategy says. \u201cAgencies will collaborate on using existing authorities to recruit the exquisite talent necessary to ensure the national security S&T Enterprise leads the world in developing and applying these technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
OSTP did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the strategy\u2019s inclusion of the need to attract and retain global talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s National Security Strategy said, in part, that the U.S. \u201ccannot allow meritocracy to be used as a justification to open America\u2019s labor market to the world in the name of finding \u2018global talent\u2019 that undercuts American workers.\u201d<\/p>\n