WHOI-90-52

Competitivenes, Security, and Dual-Use Technologies
Gerad L. Epstein
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harard University
I notice that the title for this session is "Alternative Applications and Avenues for Instrment
Spin-off." What I wil be taking about this morning is spin-off in its largest sense: the entie
relationship between defense and commercial tehnology development. The study I am directing
at Harard concerns dua-use technologies -- those tehnologies having importt applications
to both national defense and international competitiveness. Since we are still in the middle of
our analysis, al of our work to date must be considered preliminar. However, I would like to
share some of our thinking about these issues with you and the committe.
Our group at the Kennedy Schoo¡21 is concentrting on dua-use tehnologies becuse we
believe that understading the relationship between the nation's milita and commercial
tehnology development procsses is importt for developing policies that wil improve both of
them. We are not presupposing that the optimal course is to sek greater integration between
defense and commercial activities. That path is certnly plausible in some cases, just as an
opposite one may be caed for in others. What we hope to do at Harard is create a sound basis
for formulating dual-use tehnology policy in the Unite States and perhaps develop some general
criteria by which we may judge which technologies would benefit from milta-civilan synergy.
Motivation
We are looking at the defense/commercial relationship in the first place becuse the nation's
science and technology system is facing two serious problems tody. On the defense side,
weapons systems are climbing in cost at a rate consistently exceing inflation at the sae time
that future defense budgets are dropping. We sem to have difficulty building systems that are
both affordable and cost-effective. Cost aside, many wonder whether our systems are as
effective as they could be strctly from a milta stadpoint. On the commercial side, our
21pricipa investigators of
the Dua-Use Technologies Project are Lewis Branscomb, Harey
Brooks, Ashton Carer, Paul Doty and Dorothy Zinberg of the Science, Technology and Public
Policy Progra and the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harard's Kennedy
School of Government. Funding is provided by the Caregie Corpration, the Sloan Foundation
and severa corprations.
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