Futurecast

The United States faces a dynamic and unpredictable global security environment, one defined by broadly available, rapidly advancing technology that can be leveraged by geopolitical competitors and non-state actors alike in efforts to undermine the goals and influence of the U.S. and allies. In this landscape, advancing new capabilities in critical technology areas is important, but not sufficient. These advances must be coupled with:

• Scalable training to ensure the national security workforce is up to speed on the latest developments in their field.

• Efforts with allies to develop new frameworks and ethical guidelines for use-cases of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

• Rapid adoption and operation of new tools and systems by end-users.

ASU is uniquely positioned to respond to this multifaceted challenge. Few organizations in the world have access to the disciplinary breadth and technical depth of expertise at ASU, home to over 5,000 faculty, more than 100,000 students, state-of-the-art research and development facilities, and robust national and global partnerships necessary to make headway on complex security problems.

At the Global Security Initiative, we leverage ASU’s strengths to address national security mission needs, driving advancements on today’s pressing security priorities and preparing for the challenges of the future — from securing critical infrastructure to navigating a messy information environment to developing trustworthy AI that operates as a teammate to humans. And as we move into our second decade, we are astounded by the progress we are making on these and other challenges.

Moving forward, GSI will work with partners to expand its focus areas to new national security domains to ensure we are meeting the challenges of the moment — from predicting and preparing for the impacts of extreme weather events on defense missions to improving forensic attribution of biological threats to advancing the security of U.S. capabilities in space.

The milestones and achievements of the last 10 years are thanks to the hard work of our faculty, staff and students, and it is their continued dedication to GSI’s mission that will propel us to reach and exceed our goals in pursuit of a secure future for all.

I want to emphasize that it's about the people and the mission. I really care that the work is rewarding and impactful. The scale changed — it's different when there's three of you versus when there's a hundred of you. But throughout our 10 years of growth, I think we've stuck with those principles.

— Nadya Bliss Executive Director ASU Global Security Initiative