Bipartisan bill would create forum for discussing how to counter U.S. academic espionage

Those who complain that the U.S. government prefers to talk about the nation’s problems rather than solve them may think creating two forums to discuss science and national security is not a very constructive idea. But academic leaders say more dialogue is urgently needed on one issue now bedeviling the U.S. research community: how to best protect the country against its economic and military competitors without choking off international scientific collaborations and the free flow of people and ideas.

Bipartisan bill would create forum for discussing how to counter U.S. academic espionage Mikie_16x9

Bipartisan bill would create forum for discussing how to counter U.S. academic espionage Mikie_16x9

Responding to that concern, a bipartisan group of legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives today introduced a bill designed to promote talk that will spur action. The Securing American Science and Technology Act (SASTA) of 2019 would create a roundtable at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in Washington, D.C., for stakeholders to discuss the tensions between science and security, as well as an interagency working group within the White House that would tackle the same issue. Backers hope the forums will help identify practical steps universities and research funders can take to protect valuable intellectual property without stifling global cooperation.
The SASTA proposal comes as universities and researchers, particularly scientists of Asian origin working in the United States, have become increasingly alarmed by recent government actions aimed at preventing foreign governments, especially China, from unfairly reaping the fruits of federal research investments. Recently, those efforts have led two U.S. universities to oust at least five biomedical researchers who they allege failed to properly disclose ties to Chinese institutions or committed other violations. All are Asian.
The cases have led to fears of racial profiling, as well as complaints from university administrators that government rules regarding foreign ties can be vague and confusing. The best way to eliminate the uncertainty, science advocates say, is through ongoing conversations about how universities should monitor the research activities of faculty members, what types of research may require extra safeguards, and even whether some foreign interactions should be proscribed.
“The U.S. research enterprise is one of our nation’s greatest assets, which is exactly why foreign governments and individuals seek to attack and unduly influence it,” says Peter McPherson, head of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities in Washington, D.C. “As schools work to better safeguard their research, this bill would help direct needed coordination between federal science and security offices and universities.”

More: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/bipartisan-bill-would-create-forum-discussing-how-counter-us-academic-espionage

Bipartisan bill would create forum for discussing how to counter U.S. academic espionage

Bipartisan bill would create forum for discussing how to counter U.S. academic espionage

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