National Security Through Partnership: Building Bridges between Research, Policy & Practice
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Judge Business School
Abstract
The key question underpinning the "National Security through Partnership" Fellowship is: how can we promote better engagement between National Security stakeholders - policy-makers and practitioners - and academia?
The project divides into two phases, with the possibility of overlap to allow early gains to be made:
Exploration (months 1-4):
- Through series of interviews and workshops with stakeholders in Government, Academia and (if appropriate) Industry, we will establish an understanding and a critique of the existing arrangements for National Security engagement; relevant HMG CSAs and Global Uncertainties Fellows & Principal Investigators will represent an important source of insight here, as well as such centres as Imperial's Institute for Security Science & Technology, KCL's War Studies Department, St Andrew's Centre for the Study of Terrorism & Political Violence, Durham University's Global Security Institute, UCL's Jill Dando Institute of Crime & Security Science, and the Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen's University Belfast.
- We will gather ideas and proposals for new and better mechanisms for engagement: seeking insight from social science knowledge being developed in, for instance, Cambridge University's Centre for Science & Policy and Centre for Business Research; looking at alternative models practiced by National Security allies overseas - eg American, Dutch and German; and learning from approaches taken by researchers working other public service sectors (such as DEFRA, BIS, DECC and the Department of Health); we hope to commission a literature review conducted by an MSc student at the Aberdeen Business School, supervised by Professor Adam Ogilvie-Smith;
- An interim report will be produced as the first output, at the end of this phase, for a cross-section of opinion-formers in Government and Academia (including key players in the Global Uncertainties Programme), and this audience will be represented at a Workshop that considers the findings and discusses next steps; this workshop itself will represent an early pathway to impact, building networks and establishing a community with shared interests.
Piloting (months 5-12); informed by lessons & insights from Phase 1, our Placement Fellow will:
- Trial at least two pilots, which seek to deliver one or more of the following benefits:
o ensuring that research & training is problem-based
o linking research expertise to end-users through co-design, co-production and co-delivery of research
o enabling end-users to support the transformation of early-stage research into products and services
o more strategic co-operation between end-users and scholars leading to aligned activities with shared goals
o shared horizon-scanning activities that identify and help end users to respond to emerging challenges.
- Evaluate pilots and share lessons with wider National Security networks; one option is to discuss these at a William Pitt Security Seminar at Pembroke College, Cambridge;
- In a final output, review and evaluate the project and produce recommendations for "Next Steps" in a final report, to include an application - if appropriate - for follow-up funds for CSaP to support future implementation.
The project divides into two phases, with the possibility of overlap to allow early gains to be made:
Exploration (months 1-4):
- Through series of interviews and workshops with stakeholders in Government, Academia and (if appropriate) Industry, we will establish an understanding and a critique of the existing arrangements for National Security engagement; relevant HMG CSAs and Global Uncertainties Fellows & Principal Investigators will represent an important source of insight here, as well as such centres as Imperial's Institute for Security Science & Technology, KCL's War Studies Department, St Andrew's Centre for the Study of Terrorism & Political Violence, Durham University's Global Security Institute, UCL's Jill Dando Institute of Crime & Security Science, and the Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen's University Belfast.
- We will gather ideas and proposals for new and better mechanisms for engagement: seeking insight from social science knowledge being developed in, for instance, Cambridge University's Centre for Science & Policy and Centre for Business Research; looking at alternative models practiced by National Security allies overseas - eg American, Dutch and German; and learning from approaches taken by researchers working other public service sectors (such as DEFRA, BIS, DECC and the Department of Health); we hope to commission a literature review conducted by an MSc student at the Aberdeen Business School, supervised by Professor Adam Ogilvie-Smith;
- An interim report will be produced as the first output, at the end of this phase, for a cross-section of opinion-formers in Government and Academia (including key players in the Global Uncertainties Programme), and this audience will be represented at a Workshop that considers the findings and discusses next steps; this workshop itself will represent an early pathway to impact, building networks and establishing a community with shared interests.
Piloting (months 5-12); informed by lessons & insights from Phase 1, our Placement Fellow will:
- Trial at least two pilots, which seek to deliver one or more of the following benefits:
o ensuring that research & training is problem-based
o linking research expertise to end-users through co-design, co-production and co-delivery of research
o enabling end-users to support the transformation of early-stage research into products and services
o more strategic co-operation between end-users and scholars leading to aligned activities with shared goals
o shared horizon-scanning activities that identify and help end users to respond to emerging challenges.
- Evaluate pilots and share lessons with wider National Security networks; one option is to discuss these at a William Pitt Security Seminar at Pembroke College, Cambridge;
- In a final output, review and evaluate the project and produce recommendations for "Next Steps" in a final report, to include an application - if appropriate - for follow-up funds for CSaP to support future implementation.
Planned Impact
Who? Beneficiaries can be categorised under three broad headings (recognising that some of these will derive direct and early benefit from our project, eg through participating in workshops and extracting value from new communities of interest):
- National Security stakeholders, including:
o Security and Intelligence practitioners (inc police & armed services)
o Home Office and MOD policy-makers
o Department for Transport policy-makers and advisers
o Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure
o Office of Cyber-Security and Information Assurance
o Private sector operators of the Critical National Infrastructure.
- The whole range of researchers supported through the Research Councils, whose research contributes to National Security, as well as those - such as Cambridge's Centre for Business Research - involved in exploring ways of extracting benefit from research and innovation.
- Industry and Financial Sector
o Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (eg those spun out of universities)
o Seedcorn, Venture Capital and Private Equity funds supporting National Security sector.
Citizens of the UK, and the world beyond, will benefit indirectly from any improvement in the contribution that research makes to people's security. The British economy could benefit from growth and exports deriving from a flourishing SME sector serving National Security customers; and British companies benefit from enhanced security measures - such as cyber-security - protecting their staff and assets (including, notably, Intellectual Property).
How will they benefit from this research?
- National Security stakeholders will benefit through gaining access to the tools, techniques, knowledge and understanding that derive from enhanced engagement with researchers in the UK
- Academics benefit from seeing enhanced impact deriving from their research; with the chance, in some cases, for wealth to be generated through the commercialisation of their intellectual property
- Industry and the Financial sector benefit with new markets being developed and with innovation being de-risked through improved communication between entrepreneurs and National Security stakeholders.
- National Security stakeholders, including:
o Security and Intelligence practitioners (inc police & armed services)
o Home Office and MOD policy-makers
o Department for Transport policy-makers and advisers
o Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure
o Office of Cyber-Security and Information Assurance
o Private sector operators of the Critical National Infrastructure.
- The whole range of researchers supported through the Research Councils, whose research contributes to National Security, as well as those - such as Cambridge's Centre for Business Research - involved in exploring ways of extracting benefit from research and innovation.
- Industry and Financial Sector
o Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (eg those spun out of universities)
o Seedcorn, Venture Capital and Private Equity funds supporting National Security sector.
Citizens of the UK, and the world beyond, will benefit indirectly from any improvement in the contribution that research makes to people's security. The British economy could benefit from growth and exports deriving from a flourishing SME sector serving National Security customers; and British companies benefit from enhanced security measures - such as cyber-security - protecting their staff and assets (including, notably, Intellectual Property).
How will they benefit from this research?
- National Security stakeholders will benefit through gaining access to the tools, techniques, knowledge and understanding that derive from enhanced engagement with researchers in the UK
- Academics benefit from seeing enhanced impact deriving from their research; with the chance, in some cases, for wealth to be generated through the commercialisation of their intellectual property
- Industry and the Financial sector benefit with new markets being developed and with innovation being de-risked through improved communication between entrepreneurs and National Security stakeholders.
People |
ORCID iD |
Robert Doubleday (Principal Investigator) |
Description | 1. Trial the Feasibility of a National Security Data Release Scheme The pilot considered requirements for releasing for research purposes a candidate data-set. Data-owners reviewed legal, ethical, security and operational issues; academic researchers reviewed the intellectual, technical and logistical challenges. The pilot found that in principle, and probably in practice, sensitive NS data can be released for research, where this supports the statutory function of the data-owners. 2. Improve Access to Information on the Research-Base With the help of the Research Councils, we put in place - in August 2012 - arrangements to support NS stakeholder inquiries into on-going research, using the Research Outcomes System. This was communicated to relevant teams in six Government Departments and Agencies, but none made use of the facilities. Feedback gathered in November suggested that either there were established workarounds to perceived obstacles (e.g. use of existing, informal networks) and/or that this was not regarded as a sufficiently high priority to justify action. With the help of RCUK, we also raised awareness among stakeholders of the Gateway to Research project. 3. Issue Guidelines for IP/IPR A consultation exercise conducted with National Security stakeholders revealed a growing interest in understanding IP/IPR issues, although departments are moving along parallel tracks and at different speeds. A key conclusion is that NS Departments must develop the capacity to understand complex IP issues (e.g. making the right choice from a range of IPR options available; and resolving tensions between national prosperity, product delivery and national security). 4. Trial a Knowledge Exchange Scheme A pilot National Security Fellowship Scheme ran with three officials from departments with interest in cyber-security issues meeting over 40 academics from 13 different academic institutions. The officials identified four major themes: Threats, Vulnerabilities & Mitigations; the Nature of the Cyber World; the Partnership between Academic Research, Government & Industry; and the Economics, Management & Communication of Cyber-Security. Feedback afterwards produced high scores from the Fellows in terms of impact on their attitude to engagement with academic research, with the prospect for follow-up research; they are communicating what they learnt through internal blogs, briefing colleagues and written reports. 5. Explore Options for a National Security Portal for Research Proposals This pilot monitored progress with an innovative call by the Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE). The number of academic researchers that applied under this call was relatively small. This problem could be significantly overcome if we could construct more effective channels for researchers to receive requirements, supporting processes like CDE's with the idea of an Academic RISC (the Security and Resilience Industry Suppliers' Community). |
Exploitation Route | Knowledge exchange pilots tested during the Fellowship have generated practical insights that have already been of value in establishing new approaches to knowledge exchange within government. Via network of National Security stakeholders developed during the course of the one-year fellowship; via report to the interim and final reports presented to relevant government officials. |
Sectors | Security and Diplomacy |
Description | There have now been two National Security Fellowship Schemes following the model established during this Fellowship. The second, which continued to receive a financial contribution from the Airey Neave Trust as well as from St Andrews' University, focused on "Horizon-Scanning for Future Terrorist Threats" and involved four Government officials from the FCO, Home Office and Ministry of Defence meeting c 70 academics from around the country. Dr Riley-Smith successfully bid to become the External Champion to the Global Uncertainties Programme - a three-year appointment that began in April 2013. In this capacity he has been applying the learning from his Fellowship in fulfilling the Champion's mission of supporting delivery of impact from research. He has communicated this learning in presentations to c 40 Research Institutions in a year; he has also established contact with over 40 stakeholder organisations (in Government, Industry and Civil Society). In addition to running the National Security Schemes (qv), he has undertaken a triage of the 1,100 projects in the GU portfolio and is now operating an "Enhanced Impact Scheme" and an "Academic RISC Market-Place" aimed at extracting value from the programme by linking researchers to stakeholders; he has also organised an academic placement into the National Crime Agency to help this new government agency identify its requirements for social and behavioural science, and he is arranging for an academic researcher to support HMG's analysis and understanding of the value of c 200 cyber-security projects within the GU Programme. The insights and conclusions reached in the course of the 2012 Fellowship have made a substantive contribution to this work. |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | National Security Fellowships |
Organisation | Airey Neave Trust |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Building on pilot carried out during the Fellowship, and with additional funding from the The Airey Neave Trust, further rounds of Fellowships have been commissioned. Two rounds took place, the first with a focus on detection of home made explosives, and the second with a focus on horizon-scanning for terrorist threats. |
Collaborator Contribution | The Airey Neave Trust provided some financial support to develop the programme. |
Impact | Professional development and improved network for contacts with researchers for the government stakeholders who participated. |
Start Year | 2013 |