Shane Manuel

The U. S. government has developed hundreds of approaches to promote and protect critical technologies and their associated industrial base, and the sheer number and diversity of these programs, policies, and initiatives present a logistical challenge for the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD). The authors of this report describe a tool designed to help DoD decisionmakers--upon discovering a risk or vulnerability to a critical technology--quickly and effectively determine relevant approaches to mitigate the problem.

The impacts of climate change and other environmental threats are increasingly perceived by the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD) as a national security threat. RAND researchers assess the knowledge, tools, and capabilities needed by the acquisition workforce to infuse environmental considerations into DoD requirements, acquisition, and resource allocation decisionmaking.

A priority of the United States Space Force (USSF) is to improve vertical and horizontal integration and synchronization of space capabilities. To assist with this priority, the authors of this research defined existing challenges and recommended ways that USSF can facilitate the integration and synchronization of space acquisition and fielding to support the timely delivery of end-to-end space capabilities to the joint force.

Technological superiority is vital to U. S. national security. New RAND research models and assesses the challenges and gaps in the Department of Defense (DoD) commercial technology pipeline, from concept to fielding. To better harness commercial technologies, DoD needs policies that incentivize and improve information sharing, coordination, and collaboration between defense innovation organizations and traditional acquisition stakeholders.