NSTC Releases Guidance for Implementing National Security Strategy for Research and Development

The National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Subcommittee on Research Security and Joint Committee on Research Environment recently released a report outlining guidance for implementing a national security strategy for federally supported research and development. The report, released at the outset of 2022, provides measures to implement former President Trump’s National Security Presidential memorandum 33 (NSPM-33), which was created to protect U.S. federally funded research against foreign government interference and misappropriation.
 
In outlining steps for the U.S. government to further protect its research, the report also builds in measures to maintain an open research environment to promote global collaboration and discoveries. The report offers guidance in five key areas:

1. Disclosure Requirements and Standardization
2. Digital Persistent Identifiers
3. Consequences for Violation of Disclosure Requirements
4. Information Sharing
5. Research Security Programs

The guidance also proactively considered unintended consequences of protecting U.S.-funded research against foreign adversaries. Dr. Eric S. Lander, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), says, “The research security challenges we face are real and serious: some foreign governments, including China’s government, are working hard to illicitly acquire our most advanced technologies. This is unacceptable. At the same time, if our policies to address those actions significantly diminish our superpower of attracting global scientific talent — or if they fuel xenophobia against Asian Americans — we will have done more damage to ourselves than any competitor or adversary could. So we need a thoughtful and effective approach.”
 
The report offers guidance such as, “Agencies should continue to support open and transparent scientific inquiry” and “Agencies should engage with the research community throughout the implementation process and should consider stakeholder and community input and concerns,” among other recommended actions. However, the report plainly states that in carrying out NSPM-33, Agencies are required to “implement NSPM-33 provisions and related requirements in a nondiscriminatory manner that does not stigmatize or treat unfairly members of the research community, including members of ethnic or racial minority groups.”
 
For the full report visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/010422-NSPM-33-Implementation-Guidance.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=FYI&dm_i=1ZJN,7OKSB,E29EKO,VB5UF,1.