Stanford University

Science and Technology

Experts on Defense: Constructing Scientific Authority in Security Debates

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Despite the increasing centrality of computer software in modern weapons systems, computing remains relatively underrepresented in public debates about weapons policy. For example, in 1991, a software glitch in the Patriot missile defense system killed 28 people, yet physicists remain the most prominent technical critics of this system. This talk suggests that the different patterns of political intervention exhibited by physicists and computer experts cannot be explained by technical relevance. It suggests alternate explanations by examining the processes by which technical judgments are generated and rendered authoritative in the political arena, using insights from science and technology studies. These processes are then illustrated by comparing how computer experts and physicists intervened in political controversy about the feasibility of 'Star Wars', President Ronald Reagan's proposal to develop a missile defense that would render the massive Soviet nuclear arsenal 'impotent and obsolete.' I compare how critical groups of physicists and computer professionals attempted to persuade the public that a perfect missile shield could not be built. This analysis suggests that sharp differences in the two groups' technical frames of analysis, rhetoric, and professional organizations all contributed to the physicists' ability to demonstrate a much higher level of consensus and authority in the political arena.

Reuben W. Hills Conference Room

Rebecca Slayton Science Fellow CISAC
Seminars

ITRI-SPRIE CONFERENCE: The Greater China Capital Market for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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Among the different types of capital resources, venture capital as practiced in Silicon Valley is broadly acknowledged as being an important constituent of a high technology, entrepreneurial habitat. In the past two decades, policy makers from different regions have learned much from its experience.

The IT industry attributes its success partly to venture capital investments in early, risky, stages. Looking ahead, other industries will emerge in the knowledge economy. Within Taiwan and Mainland China, information related industries still dominate investment, yet in Silicon Valley emerging industries including biotechnology, medical instruments and nanotechnology have recently been attracting as much venture capital as the IT industry.

Today, venture capitalists from Silicon Valley and Taiwan are probing what they perceive as growing investment opportunities in Mainland China, On the other hand, the immaturity of its private equity market and the undeveloped state of exit mechanisms there is causing venture capitalists to hesitate to made large investments. Currently, Taiwan's venture capital faces low price-earnings ratios in its 1,400 publicly listed companies. This has contributed to a decline in VC investment. The Taiwan government expects to further liberalize the financing environment to bolster it as a regional center for domestic and international corporations.

This conference will address the influence of the system of capital on regional innovation and entrepreneurship in the United States, Taiwan, and Mainland China. The focus will be on the venture capital industry, corporate venturing and other institutions of capital related to regional industrial development.

Here are some questions to be addressed in this conference:

  • What is the pattern of venture capital investing in high-tech start-ups in the Greater China Area?
  • What are the trends in this industry?
  • How, specifically, does venture capital promote innovation and entrepreneurship?
  • What are the similarities among independent venture capital funds, corporate venture funds, angel funds, and commercial bank involvements?

Conference Organization

Conference Chairman

  • Dr. Chintay Shih, Dean of College of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University, and Special Advisor, Industrial Technology Research Institute

Co-chairmen

  • Dr. Paul Wang, Chairman, Taiwan Venture Capital Association
  • Dr. Henry Rowen, Co-director, SPRIE
  • Dr. William Miller, Co-director, SPRIE

Executive Director

  • Dr. Sean Wang, Director General of Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center in Industrial Technology Research Institute

Conference Secretariat

  • Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center, Industrial Technology Research Institute (IEK/ITRI)

Conference Organizing Secretariat

  • ITRI: Yi-Ling Wei, Peter Lai, Frank Lin, Shu-Chen Huang
  • TVCA: Teresa Yang, Michael Chen, Riva Su
  • SPRIE: Marguerite Gong Hancock (Stanford)/Martin Kenney (UC Davis)
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Auditorium, The Grand Hotel,
1 Chung Shan N. Road, Sec. 4, Taipei, Taiwan

Conferences
Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE)

Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from India

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Professor Esther Duflo, co-founder of the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will speak as part of the CDDRL project on Women and Development. Her talk will focus on her research into women in Indian politics.

Encina Basement Conference Room

Esther Duflo Professor of Economics MIT
Conferences

Theory of Surprise

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Reuben W. Hills Conference Room, East 207, Encina Hall

James J. Wirtz
Seminars

The Shifting Face of Chemical Terrorism

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While U.S. policy is focused on defending against a mass-effect bioterrorism attack, we may be missing a lower-tech threat of much higher probability. The path from the "street chemistry" of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to improvised chemical devices (ICDs) is very short. Whereas the path from IEDs to effectively weaponized, transgenic biological agents is a substantial leap for states and, even more so, for non-state actors. Examining the rising interest in highly portable, easily assembled improvised devices incorporating commercial and research chemicals by non-state actors, principally radical Islamists, this work considers the threat of improvised chemical terrorism within a comprehensive WMD risk framework.

Reuben W. Hills Conference Room, East 207, Encina Hall

Margaret E. Kosal
Seminars

Research worth fighting for

Authors
News Type
Commentary
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"Of the Pentagon's $419.3 billion budget request for next year, only about $10.5 billion--2 percent--will go toward basic research, applied research and advanced technology development," write %people1% and John M. Deutch, former secretary and assistant secretary of defense, respectively, in a New York Times op-ed. This 20 percent reduction will weaken national security in the long run, they warn, adding, "Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should reconsider this request, and if he does not, Congress should restore the cut."

Of the Pentagon's $419.3 billion budget request for next year, only about $10.5 billion - 2 percent - will go toward basic research, applied research and advanced technology development. This represents a 20 percent reduction from last year, a drastic cutback that threatens the long-term security of the nation. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should reconsider this request, and if he does not, Congress should restore the cut.

These research and development activities, known as the "technology base" program, are a vital part of the United States defense program. For good reason: the tech base is America's investment in the future. Over the years, tech base activities have yielded advances in scientific and engineering knowledge that have given United States forces the technological superiority that is responsible in large measure for their current dominance in conventional military power.

Research into basic understanding of methods for reducing radar signatures in the 1970's, for example, gave rise to "stealth" technology. Advances in electronic sensor technology enable the vast collection of information from satellites, and past work on computer systems permits distribution of this information in near real-time to military commanders. The combination of near-real-time intelligence and precision munitions are the heart of the so-called "revolution in military affairs" that avoids large and costly systems and approaches.

These advances require years of sustained effort by university, industry and government researchers. If the Pentagon does not make the required investments today, America will not have dominant military technology tomorrow.

The technology base program has also had a major effect on American industry. Indeed, it is the primary reason that the United States leads the world today in information technology. American companies not only draw heavily on the Pentagon's work, but they have also come to depend on it. The research and development programs of many of America's major information technology companies are almost exclusively devoted to product development.

It was the investment of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in a network known as ARPA-net in the 1960's and 70's, for example, that gave rise to the Internet. The JPEG file format for digital images is based on software and standards developed by the Pentagon. The global positioning satellite system, first developed for precision-guided munitions, is now used in many cellphones and has the potential to revolutionize our air traffic control system. America's ability to translate the Pentagon's technology base into commercial achievement is the envy of the world.

Of course, the administration and Congress need to make tough budget choices. But to shift money away from the technology base to pay for Iraq, other current military operations or research on large, expensive initiatives, is to give priority to the near term at the expense of the future. This is doubtful judgment, especially at a time when the nature of the threat confronting America is changing. New threats, like catastrophic terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, urgently call for new technology.

There should be no doubt that basic research will continue to make a contribution. Robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, brain and cognitive sciences, nanotechnology, large-scale modeling and simulation: all these fields can have a huge impact. If properly supported, basic technology work is likely to lead to unprecedented results.

Mr. Rumsfeld has long championed the need to transform the military and exploit new technology. He has supported the technology base in the past and has urged the adoption of a more long-term view of security needs. He should, then, be willing to review and reverse the Pentagon's request for reducing its technology base. He should understand that short-term budget requirements for the armed services always tend to push out the technology base program - unless the Pentagon leadership supports it.

Perhaps the reason for this year's reduction is the mistaken belief that a one-year gap in financing does not matter, because innovation takes so long. But tech base advances occur because of stable financing. Fluctuating budgets cause wasted effort.

It is possible that Congress will restore the cuts in technology base programs and correspondingly reduce some other part of the defense budget. But Mr. Rumsfeld should not depend on Congress. It would be vastly better if the Pentagon understood the importance of the tech base effort, and acted on that understanding.

The Department of Defense's technology base programs have been an important factor in giving America the dominant military force in the world. They have also helped many American information technology companies become successful. The Pentagon should maintain its dedication to these programs, and that will require leadership from the secretary of defense - as well as support from Congress.

John Deutch, a professor of chemistry at M.I.T., was deputy secretary of defense from 1994 to 1995. William J. Perry was secretary of defense from 1994 to 1997.

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Globalization of Services: the First Annual Conference

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The offshoring of service provision is rapidly becoming the next stage in globalization. As in any new emerging trend, there are new business and investment opportunities emerging. However, remarkably little is known about the scope of the phenomenon and what is happening in the leading corporations and the new business models entrepreneurs are introducing.

On June 17, 2005, Stanford University's Asia-Pacific Research Center is organizing a one-day seminar partially sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and others on the globalization of services. The presentations will be made by international and U.S. industry leaders and entrepreneurs describing their offshore service activities and leading academic researchers studying offshoring.

The conference will (1) Compare outsourcing locally and globally, examining differences that arise from differences in skills, institutions, regulations, technologies, process and coordination requirements, (2) Take a global view of the value-chain, examining the quantity and quality of skills in service delivery, migration and process management, verticals, and the impact on ownership structures and complexity of work done. (3) Examine the roles of cross-border participants: venture capital, product developers, etc..

Speakers will include representatives of established outsourcers from India, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines and the U.S., established multinationals that offshore work to their own subsidiaries, startups and niche firms that do cross-border work, providers of the supporting infrastructure banks, venture capitalists, law firms, etc. Academicians from Oxford University, Stanford University, the University of California and other academic bodies will also participate.

Case studies and academic papers on outsourcing/offshoring to be presented at the conference:

  1. Trade Finance (DSL)
  2. UK HR industry (Oxford University)
  3. Software and chip design (Tensilica)
  4. Software application services (TCS)
  5. Back-office finance & accounts (Agilent)
  6. Call Center/Multiple Services Firms (TRG, PLDT, I-OneSource, IT United)
  7. HR development for US firms undertaking Indian operations (Globalex)
  8. Legal aspects of establishing Indian operations (Thakker and Thakker)
  9. Network management (GTL)
  10. Enterprise software as a service (Ketera)
  11. HR and value-addition (Stanford University/UC Davis)
  12. Applying process and technology for value-addition (Gecis)
  13. Managing inhouse work (IBM Daksh)
  14. Transitioning outsourcing from the US to India (e4e)
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Bechtel Conference Center

Rafiq Dossani

No longer in residence.

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R_Dossani_headshot.jpg PhD

Rafiq Dossani was a senior research scholar at Stanford University's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) and erstwhile director of the Stanford Center for South Asia. His research interests include South Asian security, government, higher education, technology, and business.  

Dossani’s most recent book is Knowledge Perspectives of New Product Development, co-edited with D. Assimakopoulos and E. Carayannis, published in 2011 by Springer. His earlier books include Does South Asia Exist?, published in 2010 by Shorenstein APARC; India Arriving, published in 2007 by AMACOM Books/American Management Association (reprinted in India in 2008 by McGraw-Hill, and in China in 2009 by Oriental Publishing House); Prospects for Peace in South Asia, co-edited with Henry Rowen, published in 2005 by Stanford University Press; and Telecommunications Reform in India, published in 2002 by Greenwood Press. One book is under preparation: Higher Education in the BRIC Countries, co-authored with Martin Carnoy and others, to be published in 2012.

Dossani currently chairs FOCUS USA, a non-profit organization that supports emergency relief in the developing world. Between 2004 and 2010, he was a trustee of Hidden Villa, a non-profit educational organization in the Bay Area. He also serves on the board of the Industry Studies Association, and is chair of the Industry Studies Association Annual Conference for 2010–12.

Earlier, Dossani worked for the Robert Fleming Investment Banking group, first as CEO of its India operations and later as head of its San Francisco operations. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of a stockbroking firm on the OTCEI stock exchange in India, as the deputy editor of Business India Weekly, and as a professor of finance at Pennsylvania State University.

Dossani holds a BA in economics from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, India; an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India; and a PhD in finance from Northwestern University.

Senior Research Scholar
Executive Director, South Asia Initiative
Rafiq Dossani Speaker
Conferences
South Asia Initiative
Globalization of Services Conference

Effective Policies to Control BSE (Mad Cow Disease)

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Cellular prion protein (PrPC) is present in the healthy adult brain. It is a presumably essential membrane protein but its cellular function is unclear. Like Ice-9 - the fictitious water allotrope in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, which "taught the atoms a novel way in which to stack, lock and crystallize until the oceans turned to ice" - cellular prion protein can, in a rare event, adopt a pathogenic and 'contagious' shape, PrPSc, which causes mad cow disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). New variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) is the human malady attributed to eating beef tainted with BSE. In comparison to the UK epidemic (at the peak of which 37,280 cases of BSE were reported in the single year 1992), the emergence of four North American mad cows since May 2003 is minor yet still alarming. This work examines the USDA's response to indigenous BSE as manifested in "The Final Rule" (9 CFR 93-96, Jan 4, 2005) and questions whether current regulations are stringent enough to keep PrPSc out of cattle feed and human food.

Sheila Healy is a CISAC Science Fellow. She is currently analyzing USDA policy addressing Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. She recently finished a postdoctoral appointment in Stanley Prusiner's laboratory in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. There she studied the molecular and structural requirements for the conversion of cellular prion protein to its pathogenic form, the agent that causes BSE. She holds a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology from the University of Arizona.

Reuben W. Hills Conference Room, East 207, Encina Hall

Sheila Healy
Seminars

Calculated Risks? Computing and the Problem of Missile Defense, 1957--Today

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Visions of missile defense have long centered on missile interceptors or lasers, occasionally included the radar "eyes" of a system, and usually ignored the computer "brains" that must inevitably control a system. This talk will examine the causes and consequences of the relative invisibility of computing in missile defense research and policy, examining three historical episodes: the Army's push to deploy a missile defense from 1957-63, the "Safeguard" and "Sentinel" deployment proposals of the late 1960's, and the "Star Wars" controversy of the 1980's. I argue that the problems of missile defense have been defined and tackled in ways that do not merely reflect technical realities. Rather, assessments of missile defense also reflect the social status of some scientists - and the non-status of others - as experts on missile defense. In particular, this talk will show how the contested status of computing as a profession and as a science has shaped assessments of missile defense, and conclude by considering some implications for today.

Reuben W. Hills Conference Room

Rebecca Slayton
Seminars
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