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America' s next technological revolution is not only emerging from a Silicon Valley garage – it is also taking shape in the corridors of the federal government. When the Department of Defense established the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in 2015, it envisioned empowering entrepreneurs and innovators to work directly on warfighter problems. Today, DIU has created a vital bridge between America’s innovation hubs and warfighting needs. This model now needs to be extended to the next great challenge in this modern techno-competition with China: mobilizing America's top tech talent for national service.
The stakes could not be higher. As artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other emerging technologies reshape the global landscape, America faces a critical shortage of professionals in and around the federal government who understand both the technical and national security implications of these advances. And while China is increasingly outpacing the United States in the number of STEM students graduated and investing billions in strategic technologies, the question is not whether America can match these raw numbers – it is whether we can leverage our unique strengths to build something better than China.
This challenge echoes a similar period in the early 1940s that included security challenges from Germany and Japan, competitive concern due to Nazi Germany's seemingly unparalleled industrial might, and the subsequent mobilization of the US economy captured in Arthur Herman's book, "Freedom's Forge.”
Today's adversary is China, which is directly competing with the United States for global dominance. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to dominate tech and innovation – as exemplified through programs like the Thousand Talents Plan, Young Thousand Talents (YTT) program, and its authoritarian civ-mil fusion. The CCP’s approach is systematic: universities are explicitly aligned with military goals, tech companies are compelled to support state objectives, and China’s innovation base is being built on aggressive targeting and recruitment of expertise in the United States.
Yet, China's rigid, state-directed approach is structurally different than what has always been America's advantage as a superpower: our ability to inspire and empower individual initiative toward national purpose.
Just as America did not defeat Nazi Germany by copying their industrial model, we will not win this modern techno-competition by mimicking China's top-down, authoritarian approach. Instead, we must build a modern version of "Freedom's Forge"; – one that combines the dynamism of our tech hubs across the United States with the purpose-driven mission of national service.
The solution lies in creating new organizational models that preserve the unique features of American innovation and focusing such innovation on critical national security problems.
Five key initiatives could transform how we develop and deploy technical talent:
First, imagine a National Technology Reserve that functions like a military reserve system. Tech professionals could maintain their private sector careers while contributing part-time to solving critical national security problems. This flexible talent pool would receive specialized training and security clearances, creating a ready force that could rapidly mobilize for challenges from cybersecurity, to quantum, to AI development.
Second, Innovation Strike Forces (ISF) could combine technical experts, national security professionals, and industry leaders into rapid response teams. Operating with the urgency of a Manhattan Project, ISF teams could solve critical strategic tech problems with the agility and speed of startups. Such teams could tackle specific challenges, and when a new threat emerges or an opportunity arises, these teams could quickly reassemble and solve it.
Third, Technology Development Accelerators could serve as modern equivalents of the World War II era emergency shipyards and aircraft factories. Instead of building physical weapons, these centers could develop AI systems, advanced computing platforms, and critical software infrastructure. By connecting government problems to private sector innovation capabilities, these accelerators could rapidly prototype and deploy solutions to pressing national security
challenges.
Finally, imagine a non-profit-led Innovation Network that leads this national effort at-scale, building a nationwide, national security ecosystem that enables persistent and continuous applied innovation between universities, the private sector, venture capital, and the government. Unlike traditional government-to-private sector relationships, this network would emphasize rapid innovation and flexible collaboration through unique legal authorities, flexible funding / grants, and freedom from fear-of-failure culture typical of the government – enabling the ability to test and iterate.
Ongoing applied, rapid innovation; partnerships across the government, universities, and the private sector; and access to critical government problems could support a constant and continuous innovation ecosystem at-scale across the United States.
But the window for action is closing. While China focuses on quantity in talent and tech development, America's response must emphasize quality, creativity, and agility.
Today’s “Arsenal of Democracy” will not be measured in industrial output but in its rapidity and its ability to develop new, scalable models for public-private cooperation.
Just as America's industrial mobilization in World War II not only won the war but created decades of economic prosperity, a modern “Freedom's Forge” could both enhance national security and ensure the 21 st century is an America-led century.
The question is not whether America has the capability to win – we do. The question is whether we will act with the same boldness, creativity, and urgency that transformed our industrial and innovation base in the 1940s.
The future of American security depends on our answer.
Dr. Alex Gallo is a US Army Veteran and author of “Vetspective,” a RallyPoint series that
discusses national security, foreign policy, politics, and society and highlights the analysis of
thought-leaders, policy analysts, and scholars. Alex is a Senior Vice President with NobleReach
Foundation. He also serves as a fellow with George Mason University’s National Security
Institute and an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.
Follow him on Twitter at @AlexGalloUSA.
Sources:
https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china-is-fast-outpacing-u-s-stem-phd-growth/
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/12/china-has-become-a-scientific- superpower
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/208564/freedoms-forge-by-arthur-herman/
https://sccei.fsi.stanford.edu/china-briefs/evaluating-success-chinas-young-thousand-talents-stem-recruitment-program
The stakes could not be higher. As artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other emerging technologies reshape the global landscape, America faces a critical shortage of professionals in and around the federal government who understand both the technical and national security implications of these advances. And while China is increasingly outpacing the United States in the number of STEM students graduated and investing billions in strategic technologies, the question is not whether America can match these raw numbers – it is whether we can leverage our unique strengths to build something better than China.
This challenge echoes a similar period in the early 1940s that included security challenges from Germany and Japan, competitive concern due to Nazi Germany's seemingly unparalleled industrial might, and the subsequent mobilization of the US economy captured in Arthur Herman's book, "Freedom's Forge.”
Today's adversary is China, which is directly competing with the United States for global dominance. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pursuing a comprehensive strategy to dominate tech and innovation – as exemplified through programs like the Thousand Talents Plan, Young Thousand Talents (YTT) program, and its authoritarian civ-mil fusion. The CCP’s approach is systematic: universities are explicitly aligned with military goals, tech companies are compelled to support state objectives, and China’s innovation base is being built on aggressive targeting and recruitment of expertise in the United States.
Yet, China's rigid, state-directed approach is structurally different than what has always been America's advantage as a superpower: our ability to inspire and empower individual initiative toward national purpose.
Just as America did not defeat Nazi Germany by copying their industrial model, we will not win this modern techno-competition by mimicking China's top-down, authoritarian approach. Instead, we must build a modern version of "Freedom's Forge"; – one that combines the dynamism of our tech hubs across the United States with the purpose-driven mission of national service.
The solution lies in creating new organizational models that preserve the unique features of American innovation and focusing such innovation on critical national security problems.
Five key initiatives could transform how we develop and deploy technical talent:
First, imagine a National Technology Reserve that functions like a military reserve system. Tech professionals could maintain their private sector careers while contributing part-time to solving critical national security problems. This flexible talent pool would receive specialized training and security clearances, creating a ready force that could rapidly mobilize for challenges from cybersecurity, to quantum, to AI development.
Second, Innovation Strike Forces (ISF) could combine technical experts, national security professionals, and industry leaders into rapid response teams. Operating with the urgency of a Manhattan Project, ISF teams could solve critical strategic tech problems with the agility and speed of startups. Such teams could tackle specific challenges, and when a new threat emerges or an opportunity arises, these teams could quickly reassemble and solve it.
Third, Technology Development Accelerators could serve as modern equivalents of the World War II era emergency shipyards and aircraft factories. Instead of building physical weapons, these centers could develop AI systems, advanced computing platforms, and critical software infrastructure. By connecting government problems to private sector innovation capabilities, these accelerators could rapidly prototype and deploy solutions to pressing national security
challenges.
Finally, imagine a non-profit-led Innovation Network that leads this national effort at-scale, building a nationwide, national security ecosystem that enables persistent and continuous applied innovation between universities, the private sector, venture capital, and the government. Unlike traditional government-to-private sector relationships, this network would emphasize rapid innovation and flexible collaboration through unique legal authorities, flexible funding / grants, and freedom from fear-of-failure culture typical of the government – enabling the ability to test and iterate.
Ongoing applied, rapid innovation; partnerships across the government, universities, and the private sector; and access to critical government problems could support a constant and continuous innovation ecosystem at-scale across the United States.
But the window for action is closing. While China focuses on quantity in talent and tech development, America's response must emphasize quality, creativity, and agility.
Today’s “Arsenal of Democracy” will not be measured in industrial output but in its rapidity and its ability to develop new, scalable models for public-private cooperation.
Just as America's industrial mobilization in World War II not only won the war but created decades of economic prosperity, a modern “Freedom's Forge” could both enhance national security and ensure the 21 st century is an America-led century.
The question is not whether America has the capability to win – we do. The question is whether we will act with the same boldness, creativity, and urgency that transformed our industrial and innovation base in the 1940s.
The future of American security depends on our answer.
Dr. Alex Gallo is a US Army Veteran and author of “Vetspective,” a RallyPoint series that
discusses national security, foreign policy, politics, and society and highlights the analysis of
thought-leaders, policy analysts, and scholars. Alex is a Senior Vice President with NobleReach
Foundation. He also serves as a fellow with George Mason University’s National Security
Institute and an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University.
Follow him on Twitter at @AlexGalloUSA.
Sources:
https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china-is-fast-outpacing-u-s-stem-phd-growth/
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/12/china-has-become-a-scientific- superpower
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/208564/freedoms-forge-by-arthur-herman/
https://sccei.fsi.stanford.edu/china-briefs/evaluating-success-chinas-young-thousand-talents-stem-recruitment-program
China
International Relations
Foreign Policy
Edited 3 mo ago
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