Steve Clean Know-how, Innovation, and Nice Energy Competitors  – Wrap Up

This text first appeared in West Level’s Trendy Warfare Institute.

We simply had our remaining session of our Know-how, Innovation, and Nice Energy Competitors class. Joe Felter, Raj Shah and I designed the category to offer our college students insights on how industrial know-how (AI, machine studying, autonomy, cyber, quantum, semiconductors, entry to area, biotech, hypersonics, and others) will form how we make use of all the weather of nationwide energy (our affect and footprint on the world stage).

(Meet up with the category by studying our intro to the category, and summaries of Courses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7 and eight.)

This class has 4 elements that have been like most lecture lessons in worldwide coverage:

• Weekly Readings – 5-10 articles/week
• 20+ visitor audio system on know-how and its impression on nationwide energy – prior secretaries of protection and state, present and prior Nationwide Safety council members, four-star generals who lead service branches
• Lectures/Class dialogue
• Midterm particular person challenge – a 2,000-word coverage memo that describes how a U.S. competitor is utilizing a selected know-how to counter U.S. pursuits and a proposal how the U.S. ought to reply

The fifth a part of the category was distinctive.

• 1 / 4-long, team-based remaining challenge. College students developed hypotheses of how industrial applied sciences can be utilized in new and artistic methods to assist the U.S. wield its devices of nationwide energy. After which they obtained out of the classroom and interviewed 20+ beneficiaries, coverage makers, and different key stakeholders testing their hypotheses and proposed options.

On the finish of the quarter, every of the groups gave a remaining “Classes Realized” presentation with a follow-up a 3,000 to five,000-word team-written paper.

By the top the category all of the groups realized that the issue they’d chosen had morphed into one thing larger, deeper and way more attention-grabbing.

Crew Military Enterprise Capital

Unique downside assertion: the U.S. must reevaluate and enhance its public enterprise capital relationship with firms with dual-use applied sciences.

Closing downside assertion: the DoD must reevaluate and enhance its funding methods and partnerships with dual-use mid-stage non-public firms.

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here.

We knew that these college students might write an excellent analysis paper. As we identified to them, whilst you could be the neatest particular person within the constructing, it’s unlikely that 1) all of the details are within the constructing, 2) you’re smarter than the collective intelligence sitting exterior the constructing.

Crew Conflicted Capital

Unique downside assertion: Chinese language funding in US startups with crucial applied sciences poses a menace to US army capabilities, however the lack of transparency in enterprise capital makes it difficult to trace them.

Closing downside assertion: Chinese language adversarial enterprise capital investments in U.S. dual-use startups proceed to threaten US army capabilities throughout crucial applied sciences, however the scope of the issue is comparatively small. VCs and entrepreneurs can play a task in addressing the problem by shunning recognized sources of adversarial capital.

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here.

By week 2 of the category college students shaped groups round a selected know-how problem dealing with a US authorities company and labored all through the course to develop their very own proposals to assist the U.S. compete extra successfully by way of new operational ideas, organizations, and/or methods.

Crew Aurora

Unique Drawback Assertion: How can the U.S. make use of its cyber capabilities to offer the populace of China with unrestricted Web entry to bolster civil society towards CCP crackdowns, with the intention to strain the PRC, unfold American liberal values, and uphold U.S. freedom of motion within the data area?

Closing Drawback Assertion: How does the USG leverage a soft-power data marketing campaign to assist Hong Kong residents’ proper to self-determination and democratic governance with out putting people at undue danger (of prosecution as overseas brokers underneath the Nationwide Safety Legislation)?

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here.

We needed to offer our college students hands-on expertise on the right way to deeply perceive an issue on the intersection of our nation’s diplomacy, data, its army capabilities, financial energy, finance, intelligence, and legislation enforcement and dual-use know-how. First by having them develop hypotheses about the issue; subsequent by getting out of the classroom and speaking to related stakeholders throughout authorities, business, and academia to validate their assumptions; and eventually by taking what they realized to suggest and prototype options to those issues.

Crew ShortCircuit

Unique Drawback Assertion: U.S. semiconductor procurement is closely depending on TSMC, which creates a considerable vulnerability within the occasion a PRC invasion of Taiwan, or different kinetic disruptions within the Indo-Pacific.

Closing Drawback Assertion: How ought to the U.S. Authorities increase the home semiconductor workforce by way of training and innovation initiatives to extend its semiconductor sector competitiveness?

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here. 

We would like our college students to construct the reflexes and abilities to deeply perceive an issue by gathering first-hand data and validating that the issue they’re fixing is the true downside, not a symptom of one thing else. Then, college students started quickly constructing minimal viable options (coverage, software program, {hardware} …) as a option to check and validate their understanding of each the issue and what it might take to unravel it.

Crew Drone

Unique Drawback Assertion: Drones can be utilized as a shock factor in an amphibious assault to overwhelm defenses. In a possible Taiwan Strait Disaster, there’s a want for a low-cost and survivable counter-drone system to defend Taiwan.

Closing Drawback Assertion: Taiwan wants a sturdy and survivable command and management system to successfully and rapidly carry the proper asset to the proper place on the proper time throughout an invasion.

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here.

One different purpose of the category was testing a educating staff speculation – that we might flip a lecture class into one which gave again extra in output than we put in. That by tasking the scholars to 1) use what they realized from the lectures and a pair of) then check their assumptions exterior the classroom, the exterior enter they acquired could be a power multiplier. It might make the lecture materials actual, tangible and actionable. And we and they might find yourself with one thing fairly precious.

Crew Apollo

Unique Drawback Assertion: The House Pressure should leverage industrial innovation and set up a educated, skilled acquisition workforce that can ship innovation impression that the House Pressure requires.

Closing Drawback Assertion: America House Pressure lacks the availability chain and fast launch capabilities wanted to answer contingencies in area. The non-public sector possesses these capabilities, however isn’t being adequately leveraged or incentivized.

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here. 

We knew we have been asking loads from our college students. We have been integrating a lecture class with a heavy studying listing with the perfect practices of speculation testing from Lean Launchpad/Hacking for Protection/I-Corps. However I’ve but to wager mistaken in pushing college students previous what they assume is cheap. Most rise approach above the event.

Given this was the primary time we taught built-in lectures and tasks our scholar opinions ranged from the “we will need to have paid them to write down this” to “did they take the identical class as everybody else?” (Truly it was, let’s repair the legitimate points they raised.)

Just a few scholar quotes:

Crew Catena

Unique Drawback Assertion: China’s cryptocurrency ban presents the U.S. with a possibility to affect blockchain growth, appeal to technical expertise, and leverage digital asset know-how.

Closing Drawback Assertion: CCP’s financial coercion makes nations similar to Australia depending on China’s financial system and weak to the celebration’s will. The U.S. should analyze which key Australian industries are most threatened and decide viable different buying and selling companions.

In case you can’t see the presentation click on right here.

Just a few extra scholar quotes:

Whereas the constructive suggestions accolades for the category have been rewarding, a number of feedback recognized areas we will enhance:

• Letting the scholars know upfront the workload and distinctive format of the category
• Higher group and timing
  • Readings: be a lot clearer on which of them are obligatory vs elective

  • Make clear particulars, flows and goals for every class

  • Tie audio system to tasks / scholar shows

• Make weekly workplace hours obligatory to make sure all college students obtain common professor/scholar interplay, suggestions and steerage from week 1

All of our college students put in extraordinary quantity of labor. Our college students, a combination between worldwide coverage and engineering, will go off to senior roles in State, Protection, coverage and to the businesses constructing new disruptive applied sciences. They would be the ones to find out what the world-order will seem like for the remainder of the century and past. Will or not it’s a rules-based order the place states cooperate to pursue a shared imaginative and prescient for a free and open area and the place the sovereignty of all nations massive and small is protected underneath worldwide legislation? Or will or not it’s an autocratic and dystopian future coerced and imposed by a neo-totalitarian regime?

This class modified the trajectory of a lot of our college students. A quantity expressed newfound curiosity in exploring profession choices within the subject of nationwide safety. A number of will likely be profiting from alternatives offered by the Gordian Knot Middle for Nationwide Safety Innovation to additional pursue their contribution to nationwide safety.

Classes Realized

• We might flip a lecture class into one which gave again extra in output than we put in.
• Tasking the scholars to check their assumptions exterior the classroom, the exterior enter they acquired was a power multiplier
  • It made the lecture materials actual, tangible and actionable
• Pushing college students previous what they assume is cheap ends in extraordinary output. Most rise approach above the event
• The output of the category satisfied us that the work of scholars like these might materially add to the security and safety of the free world
• It’s a nationwide safety crucial to create higher alternatives for our greatest and brightest to interact and handle challenges on the nexus of know-how, innovation and nationwide safety

Be aware: Impressed by our expertise with this course, we determined to extend the main focus of Stanford’s Gordian Knot Middle for Nationwide Safety Innovation on creating and empowering the extraordinary and largely untapped potential of scholars throughout the college and past.

Filed underneath: Company/Gov’t Innovation, Know-how Innovation and Nice Energy Competitors |