National Security

Georgia Tech Launches Tech AI to Accelerate the Real-World Impact of Artificial Intelligence

admin — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 18:54:41 +0000

Georgia Tech Launches Tech AI to Accelerate the Real-World Impact of Artificial Intelligence admin Mon, 03/24/2025 - 14:54

ATLANTA — March 24, 2025 — Georgia Tech has officially launched Tech AI, a bold new initiative designed to accelerate the real-world impact of artificial intelligence across industry and government. The announcement marks the start of Tech AI Fest, the Southeast’s leading AI event, bringing together leading academics, industry experts, government figures, and students for three days of immersive discussion, creative partnerships, and transformative ideas.

Georgia Tech distinguishes itself through its exceptional ability to merge foundational research with dynamic real-world partnerships. Through Tech AI, the Institute connects top-tier researchers with public and private sector collaborators to translate scientific breakthroughs into tangible societal benefits — from optimizing supply chains and modernizing health systems to strengthening national security and improving transportation infrastructure.

“AI is both a force to drive innovation in science and engineering and a technology to deliver concrete, scalable solutions to challenging industrial problems,” said Pascal Van Hentenryck, director of Tech AI and A. Russell Chandler III Chair and professor at Georgia Tech. “Through Tech AI, Georgia Tech is redefining the pathway from academic research to tangible societal benefits, advancing fields like energy, supply chains, manufacturing, transportation, enterprise systems, and healthcare to shape a smarter, more sustainable future."

One of the AI ecosystem's greatest challenges — securing highly skilled talent — is being addressed head-on. Tech AI is preparing the next wave of AI innovators through advanced education and training, helping to close the widening talent gap.

Tech AI is built on four strategic pillars: applied research, industry partnerships, AI engineering, and workforce development. Together, these pillars form a dynamic ecosystem that develops responsible, rigorously validated AI technologies — and speeds their deployment in critical sectors such as energy, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, and essential services.

Tech AI is more than an initiative — it’s a catalyst. By turning world-class research into scalable solutions, Georgia Tech is shaping the future of artificial intelligence and delivering impact where it matters most. Tech AI leverages the groundbreaking work of Georgia Tech’s three National Science Foundation-funded AI Institutes and its network of Interdisciplinary Research Institutes, creating a powerful hub to accelerate AI solutions from research to real-world impact.

Happening this week at Georgia Tech’s campus, Tech AI Fest showcases the initiative’s wide-ranging impact through hands-on demos, research spotlights, student showcases, and panels featuring thought leaders from academia, industry, and government. The event reinforces Georgia Tech’s role as a national hub for cutting-edge AI exploration and collaboration.

To learn more about Tech AI or explore partnership opportunities, visit ai.gatech.edu.

Subtitle

Summary sentence

The announcement marks the start of Tech AI Fest, the Southeast’s leading AI event, bringing together leading academics, industry experts, government figures, and students for three days of creative partnerships and transformative ideas.

Summary

Georgia Tech has officially launched Tech AI, a bold new initiative designed to accelerate the real-world impact of AI. The announcement coincides with Tech AI Fest, the Southeast’s leading AI event, featuring academics, industry experts, government figures, and students.

Dateline

Mon, 03/24/2025 - 12:00

media@gatech.edu

Contact

Georgia Tech Media Relations

Associated importer

Keywords

Georgia Tech

Tech AI

artificial intelligence

AI Initiative

real-world impact

AI Fest

AI Event

industry partnerships

Applied Research

AI Engineering

workforce development

Societal Benefits

supply chains

health systems

National Security

Transportation

infrastructure

Talent Development

AI Innovators

AI in Healthcare

AI in Agriculture

AI and Cybersecurity

AI in Education

Pascal Van Hentenryck

Panels

Expert Speakers

Keynotes

Interactive Sessions

Research Spotlights

Student Showcases

alumni networking

News room topics

Business and Economic Development

Campus and Community

Science and Technology

Marking Two Years of War in Ukraine. What Does the Future Hold in Store?

admin — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 02:07:34 +0000

Marking Two Years of War in Ukraine. What Does the Future Hold in Store? admin Thu, 02/22/2024 - 21:07

Saturday, Feb. 24, marks two years since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts experts have closely tracked the conflict from the frontlines to potential fault lines in Western support for Ukraine, as well as the potential impact on the global economy. We asked some of these scholars to offer their insights into how the way the war has evolved in the past year, and what to look out for going forward.

Our experts:

Gen. Philip Breedlove, former NATO Supreme Commander and distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
Robert Bell, former senior civilian representative of the U.S. Secretary of Defense in Europe and the defense advisor to the U.S. ambassador to NATO; also a distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
Dina Khapaeva, professor of Russian, School of Modern Languages
Nikolay Koposov, distinguished professor of the practice, School of History and Sociology

How has Russia responded to developments in the last year?

Breedlove: I probably said last year that they were failing and that they were not adaptive, and they were rather rigid, and they were. They have had bad planning, bad logistics, bad general officership, bad decisions, and brought the wrong people to the battlefield. It's just been horrible. But that now is changing. Mr. Putin is having to face up to the fact that he can't keep doing that. He’s going into an election. Support for what even people in Russia are now calling a war is beginning to fall. As we say in America, we’re running out of money, now we have to think. Well, Mr. Putin is running out of troops, so now he has to think. And we’re now starting to see some adaptations in the use of air power and some better tactics more suited to small-unit warfare.

What has Ukraine done well?

Breedlove: Ukraine has just absolutely rearranged Russia in the Black Sea. They have essentially made the northern 20% of the Black Sea untenable for Russia, and Russia has had to relocate major assets to the south and east. And whenever they're trying to move in and out of Crimea, especially, Ukraine is making them pay and making them pay dearly. They’ve adapted small, commercial, over-the-counter drones and made them into a very lethal flighting fleet: Russia is still losing tanks to $270 drones. And their surface and under-surface naval drone capability is in the middle of defeating the northern part of the Black Sea fleet. That is beyond astounding. They are really leading the world in that way, and we are learning from them.

What military aid does Ukraine most need from the West?

Breedlove: Victory is not about any one bright shiny object. What Ukraine needs is what the United States would take to this fight if we were involved militarily. They need air superiority to enable modern maneuver warfare, and they need the sensor capabilities to discriminate targets from friends and to command and control. Then we can talk about the thing everybody wants to talk about: the ability to shoot, whether it’s a Patriot, a THAAD, or an F-16. You throw a bunch of F-16s out there in the middle of the battlefield, they'd do some pretty good work, but they would do amazing work if they were hooked to a capability to sense, discern, target, shoot.

Bell: The two most critically needed enhancements in Ukraine’s military inventory are modern air superiority fighter aircraft (e.g., the F-16s now being delivered, but in larger numbers) and long-range “deep strike” fires such as the U.S. ATACMS system already provided, but in the longer-range missile version, as well as the German-made Taurus long-range missile. These systems could alter the course of the war in Ukraine’s favor, especially if their use were to be concentrated on a deliberate strategy of denying Russia any military presence on or access to Crimea. Were that goal to be achieved, it would constitute a “strategic defeat” for Putin since Russian ambitions have for centuries prioritized control of Crimea. That might increase the admittedly long odds that Putin might see value in negotiating an acceptable outcome to this conflict.

What’s the outlook for continued Western aid?

Bell: The EU has just renewed its support for Ukraine’s economy with a €54 billion package. Whether the U.S. Congress can pass the pending supplemental appropriations request from President Biden for $60 billion in further military assistance remains to be seen. The domestic argument over securing the U.S. Southern border is the primary holdup there. However, U.S. support could also be put at risk if Kyiv fails to adequately attack domestic corruption or President Zelenskyy begins to rule in an unacceptably autocratic fashion. Also, priorities could shift if the U.S. military involvement in the Middle East conflicts escalates, or if China were to attempt to reintegrate Taiwan by force.

Koposov: Western fatigue is obvious and understandable, but the key thing is that Western opinion has not yet appreciated the importance of the problems at stake. We still very much live in a state of post-Cold War triumphalism and do not understand that the world has dramatically changed since communism collapsed and that the new challenges to democracy are no less serious than those it had to face in the 20th century. Almost all domestic problems should now be postponed, and the West should mobilize all its resources to get rid of Putin once and forever.

Are there any less-often-discussed underlying structural weaknesses in the Russian military-industrial complex that could significantly limit its ability to continue fighting?

Bell: President Putin is clearly worried about possible civil disobedience and public resistance were he to order a general mobilization. This is why he has relied on mercenaries, generous pay, and bonus offers to recruits from distant corners of Russia, and pardon offers to convicts. Nonetheless, if Putin must choose between a wider conscription or conceding defeat to Ukraine, he will most likely choose the former and amplify his already strong public messaging that suffering and sacrifice for Russia are patriotic and good for one’s soul. Hence no “tipping point” is yet in sight.

Khapaeva: Russian volunteers recruited from the most socially and economically disadvantaged groups can expect to receive a payment for their military service that amounts to a lifetime of earnings. The moment Putin’s administration is cut off from its oil and gas profits, Russians may become much less willing to serve as cannon fodder, creating conditions for changing the general political atmosphere in the country.

Are sanctions having any impact on Russia’s war effort or domestic morale?

Khapaeva: The historical memory of the conditions under which generations lived in this country must be taken into consideration. Russian history is one of regular famines, starvation, food shortages, and an economy of deficit, all which are alive in the collective memory. Living standards in Russia remain far below those of its Western neighbors, but current sanctions cannot even approach that historical level of poverty. Moreover, many Russians consider their memories of misery as testifying to national resilience. This goes well with Putin’s propaganda, which has been successful in presenting state terror as a matter of national pride and heritage.

What role can diplomacy play in bringing an end to the conflict?

Bell: A Western diplomatic effort to persuade China and key Global South nations to pressure Russia might persuade Moscow to swiftly end its pursuit of total victory in Ukraine, but such a scenario is unlikely. However, some other avenues do exist to hinder Russia's war effort. For instance, the U.S. could work with fellow permanent UN Security Council members France and the UK and incoming members Japan and South Korea on a “name and shame” campaign to expose and condemn Russia’s blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions that imposed strict sanctions on North Korea’s military exports and imports related to its illegal and dangerous nuclear and ballistic missile programs. That could help isolate Russia and delegitimize its actions.

Koposov: I do not think there is, or should be, any room for diplomacy at this point. Do we need another Munich?

What are the most concerning "wildcard" scenarios you can envision?

Bell: The assassination of Zelenskyy by the Russian FSB or his death in a missile strike, or a collapse of morale within the Ukrainian military.

Khapaeva: If the “vertical of power” cracks, leaders of the estimated 30 private armies in Russia may start acting as independent warlords, fighting for power and resources inside Russia. This could eventually lead to the collapse of the Russian Federation into several states, helping Ukraine and the West to win the war. The decentralization of the Federation was avoided in 1991 – not without Western help – out of fear that nuclear arms would proliferate into the hands of even smaller and less controllable states. Judging from today, that looks like shortsighted politics.

Breedlove: The big wild card is that Mr. Putin understands how to yank our chain, and if Ukraine started winning, the first thing you'd probably hear are new threats around the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia. We told Russia before the war what we were afraid of: We are afraid of nukes and we're afraid of the war widening. Mr. Putin uses those tools constantly to keep us deterred. But if Russia ends up killing a bunch of NATO people, that's a big wild card and one that is frankly really unsavory to talk about.

How will this all turn out?

Bell: If President Biden is re-elected and Congress agrees to continue the delivery of U.S. military weaponry at roughly the same level and in the same categories and types as before, we can expect that neither of the two contesting parties will achieve a decisive breakthrough for the foreseeable future. If President Trump is elected in November, we can expect some sort of dramatic U.S. proposal for an immediate halt to the fighting. Assuming that is rejected outright by Ukraine and Trump cuts off all U.S. military assistance in response, then Ukraine’s ability to continue to prosecute the war for more than a few more months would be at risk, and its incentives, however unwilling, to seek a negotiated settlement would be increased.

Breedlove: It is my belief that this war will end exactly how Western policy leaders decide it's going to end. If we give Ukraine what they need to win, and we are not doing that now, they will win. If we stop supporting Ukraine, they will lose. And if that happens the fact of the matter is that Russia will again subjugate Ukraine, and many tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians will die in a guerrilla conflict the likes of which Russia has never seen.

What are the potential long-term geopolitical ramifications of the war?

Koposov: If Putin wins the war, he will most likely continue with other aggressions, and U.S. leadership in the world will be significantly undermined. China will most likely learn the lesson and imitate him, at least to some extent. And the so-called Global South will become even more anti-American than it is now.

Bell: NATO’s own security is inextricably intertwined in the outcome of this conflict. As the leaders of the alliance themselves agreed at their summit in Madrid in 2022, Russia’s willingness to prosecute this aggression means that it cannot be excluded that it might also decide to commit aggression against a NATO ally, NATO’s Article 5 collective security commitments notwithstanding.

Khapaeva: If Putin wins, the war will not end Russia’s aggression and put to rest its ambitions to restore the Russian Empire/USSR. An attack on an Eastern European or Baltic NATO state is already avidly discussed by Kremlin propagandists. The West showed a feeble and inconsistent response to Russia’s war against Georgia in 2008 and the 2014 annexation of Crimea. After Russia invaded Ukraine, made-up fear of crossing “Putin’s red lines” led to rationing the arms to Ukraine and enabled Russia to buy time and fortify the front line on the occupied territories. It’s going to be hard to persuade the Russians that they now must obey the international norms they have been violating for the past two decades. Hence, Putin will seek to compromise NATO. If, at that moment, the U.S. decides to instead focus on its “domestic agenda,” NATO’s collapse will become imminent.

Subtitle

Summary sentence

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts experts assess the state of the Ukraine war on its second anniversary.

Summary

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts experts assess the state of the Ukraine war on its second anniversary.

Dateline

Wed, 02/21/2024 - 12:00

michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu

Contact

Michael Pearson
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Associated importer

Keywords

Ukraine

Russia

National Security

international security

Nunn School

News room topics

Society and Culture

Mercury ID

673103

Source updated

Thu, 02/22/2024 - 20:58

How the Pandemic is Shaping U.S. Security Policy

admin — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 13:39:09 +0000

How the Pandemic is Shaping U.S. Security Policy admin Tue, 11/07/2023 - 08:39

The Covid-19 pandemic was one of the most serious crises since the end of World War II, taking a staggering human and economic toll across the planet. As the world gets up again, groggily, like a punch-drunk fighter, it’s become increasingly clear that this coronavirus changed everything in our society. And it’s forcing leadership to consider new and evolving paths forward.

In the U.S., one of the more challenging and complicated post-pandemic deliberations is around national security and how to respond to the next infectious disease run amok. Georgia Institute of Technology researcher Margaret Kosal addresses the issue in her study, “How Covid-19 is Reshaping U.S. National Security Policy,” published recently in the journal Politics and the Life Sciences.

The study was inspired, in part, by Kosal’s participation in National Academy of Sciences (NAS) committees focused on reducing bioterrorism and chemical terrorism.

“My work with NAS prompted me to think about how we are designing our strategies and what is driving these choices,” said Kosal, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs within the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

In the wake of the pandemic, the U.S. is actively changing part of its national security enterprise. Kosal researched Department of Defense documents, among other sources, and noted that recent trends are moving policy in a different direction. Directing the national response to infectious disease is a task that has moved from public health into the domain of national security.

It’s a process called securitization. And based on Kosal’s findings, the current trend, “turns the securitization debate on its head.” That is, instead of treating an emerging infectious disease, like Covid-19, as a national security problem, there has been a noticeable shift to treat biological weapons and bioterrorism as a public health problem.

It’s not quite the “public healthization” of biodefense programs, according to Kosal, “but rather, it is an intermingling of the two, especially in the context of critical aspects of politics and warfare.”

And that presents a potentially confusing problem for national defense and security where clarity and specificity are most important. The use of biological weapons, or an act of bioterrorism, “are fundamentally political decisions, choices of warfare,” Kosal said. “But a disease is not something that depends on political will, and it isn’t influenced by power.”

An emerging infectious disease like Covid-19 is clearly a public health issue and should be treated as such, falling under the purview of the National Institutes of Health or Centers for Disease Control, she added, then emphasized, “but biological weapons and bioterrorism should not be treated like infectious diseases. They are different in very important ways.”

The Danger of Bad Information

Complicating any national security discussion, according to Kosal, are misinformation and disinformation, and the resultant erosion of confidence in institutions, “including but not limited to governments,” she wrote. “This is a missing aspect of the current discussions about

U.S. policies to reduce biological threats, whether from states or terrorists, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The pandemic revealed a significant weakness in governments’ ability to adequately address the problem of misinformation and disinformation, a failure that manifested in conspiracy theories and the flouting of public health recommendations.

Kosal cited numerous articles and studies that demonstrate how a global crisis opened the door to distortion of the facts, as extremist groups worked to leverage fears and anxieties, usually to broaden the appeal of their own narratives. Some of the more radical included: an al-Qaeda faction that claimed Covid, “is a hidden soldier sent by God to fight his enemies; a leader of Boko Haram faction who told followers the pandemic was, “divine punishment for the world.”

Kosal observed, too, that economic hardships and other impacts of the pandemic have made it easier for extremist groups to exploit the fragility of weak governments, while gaining followers and resources, and putting a halt to peace-building efforts in some regions. Technology, like the content-generating algorithms used in social media, has helped spread wrong information, too.

“The misinformation and disinformation problem is serious because it leads to this loss of confidence in government,” Kosal said. “That confidence is crucial in the context of disease and in responding to bioterrorism.”

Ultimately, she hopes her study will have an impact on defense policymakers who are helping to form and clarify our nation’s security plans.

“I’d really like to see more recognition of the political piece,” she said. “It’s critically important for our counter proliferation efforts and for our efforts to reduce the threat of these weapons more broadly.”

Placing extremist ideologies and manufactured weapons in a public health context, she argued, lessens the emphasis on the political will and the importance of the relevant strategic choices necessary to address a potential conflict.

And the nature of conflict, she said, “is all about people and power. Diseases don’t care really care about those things.”

Summary sentence

In the wake of the pandemic, the U.S. is changing its national security policy.

Summary

In the wake of the pandemic, the U.S. is changing its national security policy.

Dateline

Tue, 11/07/2023 - 12:00

jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu

Contact

Writer: Jerry Grillo

Associated importer

Keywords

Covid 19

National Security

chemical weapons

go-researchnews

go-bio

News room topics

Society and Culture

ManTech Partners With Georgia Institute of Technology’s ATDC to Drive Innovative Cyber Security and Emerging Technologies for Government

admin — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 12:47:41 +0000

ManTech Partners With Georgia Institute of Technology’s ATDC to Drive Innovative Cyber Security and Emerging Technologies for Government admin Thu, 09/28/2023 - 08:47

The announcement marks ATDC’s first such agreement with a federal systems integrator. Leveraging ManTech’s deep government experience, the partnership will help entrepreneurs in ATDC’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Program develop innovative, disruptive solutions that target and resolve federal agencies’ most pressing and difficult challenges.

ManTech provides advanced, mission-focused technology solutions and services for every branch of the federal government including the Department of Defense, intelligence community, and federal civilian agencies.

“ManTech is proud to work with ATDC in an industry-leading initiative that will accelerate government access to highly differentiated cyber and emerging tech solutions with the potential to stop even the most insidious cyberattacks on contact,” said Joe Cubba, ManTech executive vice president and chief growth officer. “Together, we are turning today’s next-gen innovators into the technology thought leaders and giants of the future.”

ATDC, the state of Georgia’s technology incubator, works with entrepreneurs to build, scale, and launch successful technology companies. Since its founding in 1980, ATDC has provided coaching, curriculum, community, connections, and access to capital and customers. Among the many benefits for young technology ventures, this partnership builds on ATDC’s platform with training and mentoring on how startups can grow their business with funding by the government’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

“Small companies need a proven systems integrator like ManTech to drive government introductions, integrate and deploy their technology, and show how it can make a real difference in supporting the mission,” said Corbett Gilliam, ATDC’s manager of corporate development. “ManTech and ATDC are bringing today and tomorrow’s Edisons and Teslas deep inside the very operations that keep this nation safe.”

As part of the partnership, ATDC has hired Blair Tighe to lead the vertical. In that role, Tighe, a U.S. Army veteran with a combined background of private sector cyber strategy and emerging technologies, will manage the pipeline, evaluate technologies, and coach companies.

He will leverage ATDC’s Connect program and expertise to secure opportunities for pilot projects, investments, and customers. He also will work with ManTech to mentor companies and host classes and educational programming built around the specific needs of the cyber and emerging tech sector.

The cyber focus comes as ATDC is seeing increased startup activity from entrepreneurs and founders in the cybersecurity space. The portfolio already has 12 companies in its incubator program.

Summary sentence

ManTech to support development of cyber technology entrepreneurs and startups

Summary

HERNDON, VA and ATLANTA (Sept. 28, 2023) — ManTech today announced a partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center to support the growth and acceleration of startups built on cybersecurity-related technologies and emerging innovations.

Dateline

Thu, 09/28/2023 - 12:00

peralte@gatech.edu

Contact

Péralte C. Paul
404.316.1210

peralte@gatech.edu

Sidebar

About ManTech
ManTech provides mission-focused technology solutions and services for U.S. defense, intelligence, and federal civilian agencies. In business more than 54 years, we excel in full-spectrum cyber operations, data collection and analytics, enterprise IT, agile DevOps systems engineering, and software application development solutions that support national and homeland security. Additional information about ManTech can be found at mantech.com.

About Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is one of the top public research universities in the U.S., developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its more than 45,000 undergraduate and graduate students, representing 50 states and more than 148 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1.0 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly, which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC, a program of Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute, has grown to become the longest running and one of the most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

Associated importer

Keywords

cyber security

atdc

ManTech

National Security

News room topics

Business and Economic Development

Mercury ID

669992

Source updated

Thu, 09/28/2023 - 08:45

Georgia Tech Researchers to Lead Pioneering Space Wargaming Series

admin — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 19:15:12 +0000

Georgia Tech Researchers to Lead Pioneering Space Wargaming Series admin Mon, 06/26/2023 - 15:15

Space is, thankfully, a peaceful place. But that lack of conflict high overhead also obscures how little scholars down here know about the ways a conflict in orbit might play out, much less how to deter it.

Georgia Tech space policy expert Mariel Borowitz thinks she has a way to help clear up some of that confusion. Under a new $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, Borowitz plans to help lead a major series of public space wargaming exercises. They’re meant to tease out how current U.S. deterrence strategies might fall short when it comes to stopping a conflict in space and what can be done to improve them.

“When it comes to conflict in space, the stakes are enormously high and the challenges are extremely complex,” said Borowitz, an associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “This project will better equip us to understand whether existing deterrence models can help hold the line in space or whether another model is necessary to prevent a potentially devastating outbreak in orbit.”

Jon Lindsay, an associate professor in the Nunn School with a joint appointment in the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, will work with Borowitz on the project, as will U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Brian Stewart — a Nunn School Ph.D. graduate who now teaches at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Jacquelyn Schneider — a Hoover Fellow at The Hoover Center at Stanford University — rounds out the team.

A central theme of the project will be trying to understand how the concept of integrated deterrence applies to conflict in space. Integrated deterrence essentially boils down to a country using everything at its disposal to prevent conflict from escalating too far, from applying diplomatic and economic pressure to bringing the military into the mix.

Using such means to deter conflict in a global hotspot on the ground is tricky enough. Look no further than Ukraine for contemporary evidence of that.

But when that hotspot is space, conflict doesn’t just threaten stability in one part of the planet. It could quickly become a serious threat to civilian communications, commerce, and military operations across the globe. Despite the high stakes, trying to understand how to tamp down such conflict is something government officials and scholars are only beginning to tackle.

Much of the work in this space focuses on improving military technology to sense what adversaries are doing and improving the ability of militaries to destroy incoming attacks quickly. But this project highlights how no complex problem can be solved without considering both technological and human factors — a core competency of the Nunn School and the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

“We understand entanglement from a technological standpoint, but we need to better understand how these entanglements affect perceptions and decisions, which ultimately shape deterrence,” Borowitz said. “And we need to have more clarity on how decisions to separate military and civilian systems or choices to integrate different sectors within the space domain more closely might affect deterrence, before billions of dollars are spent on these efforts.”

Borowitz and her colleagues have already staged versions of space conflict scenarios in the classroom at Georgia Tech. They are now broadening the scope and preparing for the first exercises, which could come as soon as September.

The team plans to hold wargaming sessions across the globe over the next few years, including at Georgia Tech and the Air Force Academy and in Washington, Brussels, Taiwan, and Tokyo. The sessions will include national security figures, scholars, students, and international partners.

The project is expected to generate a significant dataset of use to scholars, as well as a book, game design materials, and other assets to help other researchers continue the work, Borowitz said

Subtitle

Summary sentence

Mariel Borowitz and Jon Lindsay of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs will help lead a series of public wargaming exercises to test the limits of U.S. deterrence strategies in space.

Summary

Under a new $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, Mariel Borowitz plans to help lead a major series of public space wargaming exercises. They’re meant to tease out how current U.S. deterrence strategies might fall short when it comes to stopping a conflict in space and what can be done to improve them.

Dateline

Mon, 06/26/2023 - 12:00

michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu

Contact

Michael Pearson
Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Associated importer

Keywords

wargaming

space

wargaming exercises

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts; Sam Nunn School of International Affairs

U.S. Department of Defense

school of cybersecurity and privacy

Military Technology

National Security

united states air force

News room topics

Earth and Environment

Science and Technology

National Security

Georgia Tech Launches Tech AI to Accelerate the Real-World Impact of Artificial Intelligence

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

Marking Two Years of War in Ukraine. What Does the Future Hold in Store?

How has Russia responded to developments in the last year?

What has Ukraine done well?

What military aid does Ukraine most need from the West?

What’s the outlook for continued Western aid?

Are there any less-often-discussed underlying structural weaknesses in the Russian military-industrial complex that could significantly limit its ability to continue fighting?

Are sanctions having any impact on Russia’s war effort or domestic morale?

What role can diplomacy play in bringing an end to the conflict?

What are the most concerning "wildcard" scenarios you can envision?

How will this all turn out?

What are the potential long-term geopolitical ramifications of the war?

Keywords

News room topics

How the Pandemic is Shaping U.S. Security Policy

The Danger of Bad Information

Keywords

News room topics

Categories

ManTech Partners With Georgia Institute of Technology’s ATDC to Drive Innovative Cyber Security and Emerging Technologies for Government

Keywords

News room topics

Georgia Tech Researchers to Lead Pioneering Space Wargaming Series

Keywords

News room topics

Categories