March 5, 2013

"Cyber Security"

By Ryan Ellis, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Project on Technology, Security, and Conflict in the Cyber Age

Dr. Ellis raises an interesting question: Does the pursuit of offensive cyber capabilities undermine domestic security? The conversation highlights a growing area of concern and ongoing debate.

Summer 2013

"Confronting Complex Cybersecurity Challenges"

Belfer Center Newsletter

By James F. Smith, Communications Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

For the past four years, faculty and fellows from Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have partnered in a project called "Explorations in Cyber International Relations." The ECIR project’s brief is "to explore alternative cyber developments, assess challenges and threats, and identify possibilities and opportunities in cyberspace for security and well-being."

May 15, 2013

"Privacy Consciousness in the Big Data Era"

Hive

By Vivek Mohan, Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Project on Technology, Security, and Conflict in the Cyber Age

"...[S]ocietal inertia cannot be held up ipso facto to argue for stronger privacy protections when we ourselves are responsible for sharing the data that is now traversing the endless servers of cyberspace. The benefits of the big data revolution are myriad, cut across sectors, and the best is surely yet to come."

February 2013

"The Discovery-Invention Cycle: Bridging the Basic/Applied Dichotomy"

By Venkatesh "Venky" Narayanamurti, Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy; Professor of Physics, Harvard; Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group, Tolu Odumosu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Project on Technology, Security, and Conflict in the Cyber Age and Lee Vinsel

In this paper we hope to provide an alternative point of view. By examining both the evolution of the famous "linear model of innovation" — which holds that scientific research precedes technological innovation — and the problematic description of engineering being "applied science" we seek to challenge the existing dichotomies between basic / applied research, science and engineering, tracing how knowledge travels between different knowledge domains through a case study of a selected group of Nobel Prizes in physics.

March 18, 2013

"Engineering the Future"

Technology+Policy | Innovation@Work

By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa

"With improvements in fiber optic connectivity and open internet platforms, Africa is on the verge of becoming a major beneficiary of the massive open online courses (MOOCs). There is a real possibility for Africa to dramatically improve its teaching—especially in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)—through the deployment of MOOCs."

2012

"Leadership and Responsibility for Cybersecurity"

Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Special Issue

By Melissa Hathaway, Senior Advisor, Project on Technology, Security, and Conflict in the Cyber Age

"Policy makers, legislators, and businessmen should assess the gap between the current defense posture and our needed front line defense in the face of an increasingly sophisticated range of actors. This paper describes a series of case studies that highlight the lack of attention being paid to this serious problem and the subsequent policy and technology solutions that are being brought to bear to close the gap."

April 12, 2013

"Why the Government Matters: A Primer for Data-Minded Entrepreneurs"

Hive

By Vivek Mohan, Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Project on Technology, Security, and Conflict in the Cyber Age

"...[A]mong the informed public, fear of misuse of personal information is not limited to a wary eye towards cyber criminals — increasingly, concern has been voiced at the increasing power of the government in electronic surveillance."