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S'unir pour innover L'objectif Réaliser des solutions innovantes à des problèmes complexes en cybersécurité. Le PICQ propulse l'innovation en cybersécurité au Québec. Il s'y emploie en favorisant la croissance, la création et la rétention de PME au Québec et en collaboration avec les grandes entreprises. Dans le cadre du PICQ, un bassin de chercheurs de classe mondiale profite aux universités québécoises gr'ce au renforcement de partenariats industriel‑chercheur. Le partage des expertises et la mise en commun des savoir-faire génèrent ainsi des solutions innovantes et créatives à des problèmes complexes en matière de cybersécurité. Nos partenaires Travaillant de pair avec des organisations consacrées à la promotion de la cybersécurité (In-Sec-M, CyberEco et V1 Studio), Prompt administre le PICQ. Il offre des opportunités de financement et d'accompagnement stratégique au développement de projets en cybersécurité. Ce faisant, Prompt et ses collaborateurs participent activement à la création d'une nouvelle génération d'innovations en cybersécurité au Québec. Constitution Les entreprises partenaires du PICQ et les centres de recherche collaborateurs sont: PME Streamscan PM SCADA In Fidem Terranova Security Vumetric ZEROSPAM Sécurité Inc. Sentiom Mondata Flare Systems Go Secure Canada Inc. Iptoki Devicom Qohash Inc. Fortica Knox Industries Inc. Quickseries Publishing Inc. Conatix du Nord Inc. Solutions Caristix Inc. Technologies Timechain Inc. Veriphi Inc. Satoshi Portal Noviflow Inc. Optable Technologies Inc. Xpertics Solutions Inc. Grandes entreprises Element AI Becker-Carroll Banque Nationale du Canada Catallaxy Consulting Inc. (Filière de Raymond Chabot Grant & Thornton) Lightspeed POS Inc. Universités, centres de recherche et secteur public Université Concordia Université McGill Polytechnique Montréal CyberQuébec (CCTT) Ville de Gatineau CRIM ÉTS Université Laval Université du Québec à Chicoutimi Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) Université de Sherbrooke Laboratoire d'Identité numérique Nouveaux membres à venir. Vue d'ensemble du programme Ce programme est conçu pour propulser l'innovation par le biais de maillages entre industriels et chercheurs. D'ici trois ans, nous entrevoyons l'atteinte des résultats suivants: 50 projets d'innovation en cybersécurité; 8 M$ investi en R-D et développement; 60 nouveaux produits, services, processus et solutions créés, etc. 35 partenariats de recherche industrielle; 400 emplois. Impliquer des experts de niveau postsecondaire dans vos travaux d'innovations via les programmes MITACS. Une collaboration académique valorisée dans le cadre des projets PICQ. Pour en savoir plus, visitez https://www.mitacs.ca/fr Comment fonctionne le financement Jusqu'à 25% du budget de votre projet d'innovation en cybersécurité pourrait être financé par le PICQ. De plus, il est possible de demander une aide financière provenant des gouvernements du Québec et du Canada sans excéder un financement total de 50% de la valeur du projet. Pré-qualification Remplissez ce formulaire pour que l'équipe de Prompt puisses étudier l'admissibilité de votre projet TÉLÉCHARGEZ LE FORMULAIRE DE PRÉ-QUALIFICATON Appel à projets continu pendant l'automne 2020 Prompt formera un comité de sélection pour évaluer les demandes qui seront déposées au fur et à mesure. Faites vite car il s'agit de la dernière tranche de subvention disponible. Les dépenses seront admissibles à la subvention à partir de la date de dépôt du projet. Le projet doit être réalisé avant le 31 mars 2022. POSTULEZ EN LIGNE Le formulaire et le guide du programme restent disponibles pour consultation. La version anglaise est aussi disponible sur le site anglais. Documents du PICQ : les versions les plus récentes De temps en temps, nous ajoutons des améliorations et des modifications aux documents du programme. Avant de commencer de décrire votre projet PICQ, veuillez s'assurer d'avoir en main les versions les plus récentes du formulaire d'application et le guide du programme. Guide du programme : V.04.1.2| Version Mai 2020 Formulaire d'application : Formulaire V.4.0| Version Mai 2020 TÉLÉCHARGER LE GUIDE DU PROGRAMME TÉLÉCHARGER LE FORMULAIRE PDF FAQ sur la plateforme d'application en ligne Une FAQ est disponible pour vous aider dans votre processus d'application. Vous y trouverez les mentions relatives à la sécurité des données transmises. ACCÉDER À LA FAQ Nous restons à votre entière disposition pour vous aider dans votre processus d'application. N'hésitez pas à nous contacter via projetsPICQ@promptinnov.com Les initiatives dans l'écosystème de la cybersécurité au Québec s'étendent dans de nombreuses industries VISIONNEZ NOTRE WEBINAIRE : Appel à projet Fintech VISIONNEZ NOTRE WEXPERT - Meilleures pratiques de cybersécurité pour le télétravail (11 juin 2020) VISIONNEZ NOTRE WEXPERT : La cybersécurité en temps de télétravail avec Martin Berthiaume, PDG Mon Data (2 avril 2020) https://promptinnov.com/cybersecurite-2/

Testing Stream Now Open Our Testing Stream is now accepting applications. We have $20M in funding to test your late-stage, pre-commercial innovations in real-life settings with government partners. You could receive up to $550k to test your standard (non-military) innovation, or up to $1.15M to test your military innovation. This Testing Stream call for proposals closes February 5th, 2021 at 14:00 EST. Learn more Who is eligible? We are looking for innovative products and services at technology readiness levels (TRL) 7-9. We have launched two concurrent calls for proposals for: Canadian SMEs Non-SMEs: Sole proprietor, individual, large business, not-for profit, or an academic institution Read all eligibility requirements here. Direct sales for SMEs We are introducing a new program feature for SMEs! SMEs who complete an initial testing contract may be eligible to qualify for our innovation source list. SMES who qualify for our innovation source list will: be eligible to sell to the Government of Canada without further competition for 3 years be eligible for additional contracts (*to a maximum of $8M per contract) Visit our website for all details about the Testing Stream calls for proposals.

Program details The CRIAQ Start-up Grant is targeted for Quebec start-ups active in the aerospace sector. Through a competitive process, CRIAQ will award two $10,000 grants per year in support of the technological development of two start-ups, under the rationale that this funding will help to bring the development of the product or service into alignment with potential users and customers. Project submission and approval process To be eligible for this grant, the company must be a start-up in and at least a portion of its activities must be geared toward the aerospace industry (products, services, solutions) and must be a good standing member of CRIAQ or must commit to become one before the grant is awarded. Elements to be considered will include the following: Date of incorporation within the last two years Number of employees (fewer than ten) Participation in a recognized incubator or accelerator Etc. Proposals will be evaluated according to the following four (4) criteria: Novelty of the product or service Technical feasibility Aerospace business opportunity potential Quality of the team It is also important to note that applications from companies stemming from a CRIAQ research project will be evaluated positively. Application and additional information The form below must be completed and submitted no later than January 22, 2021. The evaluation will be completed by February 5, 2021. Recipients must be available between February 16-19, 2021 for the announcement to be made at the CRIAQ RDV Forum. https://www.criaq.aero/en/program/criaq-start-up/

Qu'est-ce que le Baromètre? Depuis mars 2020, le Mouvement des accélérateurs d'innovation du Québec sonde les startups québécoises afin de suivre leur évolution (état de la situation, enjeux, impacts de la COVID-19, besoins, attentes, etc.). Le Baromètre est élaboré autour de différentes thématiques d'intérêt comme le financement et l'investissement, la réinvention des startups dans le contexte de la relance ou les startups dans la vallée de la mort. Depuis 2014, HighLine Beta, une firme d'innovation pour les entreprises et un fonds d'investissement en amorçage, publie des rapports sur les thèmes de l'innovation corporative et des tendances de marché dans plusieurs secteurs d'activités. Baromètre thématique: Rapprochement startups / moyennes et grandes entreprises MAIN et Highline Beta, en partenariat avec CGT Conseils, présentent le nouveau Baromètre sur la thématique de l'innovation et des partenariats entre startups et moyennes et grandes entreprises. Ce Baromètre aura un format nouveau et unique: il sera présenté en deux pans. D'un côté, les startups seront sondées et de l'autre, les moyennes et grandes entreprises. Le sondage prend fin le 8 janvier et les résultats seront diffusés d'ici début février. Le rapport final présentera les analyses sous forme « miroir » des deux côtés de la médaille. À qui s'adresse ce Baromètre? Deux questionnaires seront donc diffusés en parallèle. Les répondants ciblés sont: Questionnaire startup: jeune entreprise innovante à fort potentiel de croissance. Je suis un.e entrepreneur.e d'une entreprise qui est dans ses premiers stades de développement, qui n'a pas atteint la maturité (bénéfice stable d'année en année) et l'innovation est centrale à notre modèle d'affaires. Questionnaire moyennes et grandes entreprises: entreprise bien établie, de plus de 100 employés et qui a des activités au Québec. Je suis un.e employé.e permanent.e et j'occupe un poste dans lequel j'ai un pouvoir décisionnel sur les questions liées à l'innovation (ex.: membre de l'exécutif, direction de l'innovation, direction des partenariats, etc.). Liens utiles Lien vers le questionnaire thématique Rapprochement startups / moyennes et grandes entreprises établies https://lecoude.com/barometre-startup-moyennesetgrandes-entreprises-accueil/reseau

Munich, 09 December 2020 – Airbus has concluded a pilot phase of the “Innovations for FCAS” (I4 FCAS) initiative which aims at involving German non-traditional defence players -covering startups, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and research institutes- in the development of Future Combat Air System (FCAS). This initiative which was launched in April 2020 was funded by the German Ministry of Defence. “The initiative shows that FCAS does not compare with previous larger defence projects. By implementing young and innovative players, some of whom have never been in touch with the defence sector, we ensure to leverage all competencies available for a game-changing high-tech programme such as FCAS”, said Dirk Hoke, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Defence and Space. “It will also foster technological spill-overs between the military and civil worlds. It is our ambition to continue the initiative in 2021 and beyond, and make it a cornerstone of our FCAS innovation strategy.” During the pilot phase, 18 innovative players worked on 14 projects in different areas, covering the whole range of FCAS elements: combat cloud, connectivity, new generation fighter, remote carriers, system of systems, sensors. Among these 14 projects, Airbus engineers have worked closely with SMEs and startups to achieve concrete results such as: · A first flight-test approved launcher of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from of a transport aircraft. This project is the result of a cooperation between Airbus as A400M integrator, Geradts GmbH for the launcher and SFL GmbH from Stuttgart for UAV integration and supported by DLR simulations. An agile design and development approach allowed for rapid prototyping and flight readiness in only 6 months. · A secure combat cloud demonstrator: a first time transfer of secured operating systems into a cloud environment. Kernkonzept GmbH from Dresden together with Airbus CyberSecurity have shown how IT security can be used for highest security requirements on a governmental cloud system. · A demonstrator of applied artificial intelligence on radio frequency analysis. Hellsicht GmbH from Munich trained their algorithms on Airbus-provided datasets, allowing for a unique capability of real time fingerprinting of certain emitters, such as radars. As Europe's largest defence programme in the coming decades, FCAS aims at pushing the innovation and technological boundaries. Its development will bring disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, manned-unmanned teaming, combat cloud or cybersecurity to the forefront. https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2020/12/innovations-for-fcas-airbus-concludes-cooperative-pilot-phase-with-startup-companies-in-germany.html

Mark Pomerleau WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense must bolster its resilience in mission platforms in order to stay ahead of threats, a new think tank report says. With the military's shift toward great power competition, or conflict against nation states, its systems and platforms will be under greater stress than technological inferior adversaries battled during the counterterrorism fight of the last decade-plus. Systems and networks are expected to be contested, disrupted and even destroyed, meaning officials need to build redundancy and resilience in from the start to work through such challenges. In fact, top defense officials have been warning for several years that they are engaged in conflict that is taking place below the threshold of armed conflict in which adversaries are probing networks and systems daily for espionage or disruptive purposes. “Resilience is a key challenge for combat mission systems in the defense community as a result of accumulating technical debt, outdated procurement frameworks, and a recurring failure to prioritize learning over compliance. The result is brittle technology systems and organizations strained to the point of compromising basic mission functions in the face of changing technology and evolving threats,” said a new report out today by the Atlantic Council titled “How Do You Fix a Flying Computer? Seeking Resilience in Software-Intensive Mission Systems.” “Mission resilience must be a priority area of work for the defense community. Resilience offers a critical pathway to sustain the long-term utility of software-intensive mission systems, while avoiding organizational brittleness in technology use and resulting national security risks. The United States and its allies face an unprecedented defense landscape in the 2020s and beyond.” This resilience, is built upon three pillars, the authors write: robustness, which is the ability of a system to negate the impact of disruption; responsiveness, which is the ability of a system to provide feedback and incorporate changes on a disruption, and; adaptability, which is the ability to a system to change itself to continue operating despite a disruption. Systems, the report notes, are more than just the sum of its parts — hardware and software — but rather are much broader to include people, organizational processes and technologies. To date, DoD has struggled to manage complexity and develop robust and reliable mission systems, even in a relatively benign environment, the report bluntly asserts, citing problems with the F-35′s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) as one key example. “A conflict or more contested environment would only exacerbate these issues. The F-35 is not alone in a generation of combat systems so dependent on IT and software that failures in code are as critical as a malfunctioning munition or faulty engine — other examples include Navy ships and military satellites,” the authors write. “To ensure mission systems like the F-35 remain available, capable, and lethal in conflicts to come demands the United States and its allies prioritize the resilience of these systems. Not merely security against compromise, mission resilience is the ability of a mission system to prevent, respond to, and adapt to both anticipated and unanticipated disruptions, to optimize efficacy under uncertainty, and to maximize value over the long term. Adaptability is measured by the capacity to change — not only to modify lines of software code, but to overturn and replace the entire organization and the processes by which it performs the mission, if necessary. Any aspect that an organization cannot or will not change may turn out to be the weakest link, or at least a highly reliable target for an adversary.” The report offers four principles that defense organizations can undertake to me more resilient in future conflicts against sophisticated adversaries: Embrace failure: DoD must be more willing to take risks and embrace failure to stay ahead of the curve. Organizations can adopt concepts such as chaos engineering, experimenting on a system to build confidence in its ability to withstand turbulent conditions in production, and planning for loss of confidentiality in compromised systems. Improve speed: DoD must be faster at adapting and developing, which includes improving its antiquated acquisition policies and adopt agile methodologies of continuous integration and delivery. Of note, DoD has created a software acquisition pathway and is implementing agile methodologies of continuous integration and delivery, though on small scales. Always be learning: Defense organizations operate in a highly contested cyber environment, the report notes, and as the department grows more complex, how it learns and adapts to rapidly evolving threats grows in importance. Thus, it must embrace experimentation and continuous learning at all levels of systems as a tool to drive improvement. Manage trade-offs and complexity: DoD should improve mission system programs' understanding of the trade-offs between near-term functionality and long-term complexity to include their impact on systems' resilience. https://www.c4isrnet.com/cyber/2020/12/14/how-dod-can-improve-its-technology-resilience/

By: Lauren Speranza and Nicholas Nelson The incoming Biden administration is expected to reassert ties with Europe, hoping to leverage America's allies and partners at NATO in the great power competition with China and Russia. As U.S. and European leaders set their collective agenda at the next NATO summit, a top priority should be establishing a NATO framework for emerging and disruptive technologies (EDT). For the United States, it is important that the alliance adapt together to defend against algorithms and bots, as much as bullets and bombs. Europe shares this mindset but differs from the United States on key defense tech issues, such as regulation, data, and stakes in national champion companies. To avoid the dangerous transatlantic rifts of the last four years, Brussels and Washington must bridge that gap and forge an alliance approach to EDT. NATO has acknowledged the need to harness the power of such technologies, but current efforts have produced innovation theater, as opposed to fundamental organizational change. NATO lags behind in critical areas such as 5G, hypersonics, artificial intelligence (AI), unmanned systems, and quantum science. In the past, NATO has used frameworks to get member states to agree on priorities, dedicate resources, and empower authorities to act. Looking to the next NATO summit, transatlantic leaders should champion an EDT framework built around four practical pillars: Establishing an organic assessment and coordination capacity at the strategic level. To fulfill its potential as the transatlantic coordinating tool on the security dimensions of EDT, the alliance needs an in-house capability to assess challenges driven by rapidly evolving technologies. It must examine the advantages and vulnerabilities of adversaries and competitors, as well as gaps in NATO's approach and capabilities. NATO must explore how EDT can be applied to tackle below-threshold threats, enhance defense planning, boost exercises, and support decision-making. Building on ongoing efforts, this should occur at the strategic level of the alliance, fusing civil and military perspectives and data to inform the development and introduction of cutting-edge EDT. It must also include a more robust mechanism for aligning capabilities and gaps across members, key partners, and the European Union. As defense budgets contract amidst the Covid-19 crisis, this approach will maximize return on investment and improve NATO's strategic edge. Seeding the market by improving engagement with industry. A strategic assessment function will not be valuable unless industry leaders are engaged and incentivized. NATO needs to connect to the private sector early and often, clearly communicating its priorities and requirements while providing accessible opportunities for industry, including non-traditionals, to readily sell into the alliance. Too often national and international defense organizations do not provide discernable paths to revenue for these companies, artificially limiting their industrial bases. The long lead times for these projects are often unattractive or unfeasible, especially for small companies and start-ups where radical innovation takes place. To remedy this, the alliance should look to the U.S. Department of Defense, which has succeeded in attracting startups and non-traditionals to its ecosystem through rapid awards, proof-of-concept contracts, and matching venture capital funds that start-ups receive. Enhancing standardization and interoperability by creating a system of systems. To meet the challenges of future warfare, the alliance must be able communicate and operate across militaries, capabilities, and domains. This requires more standardized, secure, and resilient platforms, systems, and infrastructure. NATO needs an EDT strategy for integration, not just innovation. Leading candidates for Biden's Pentagon team have emphasized this priority, supporting a CJADC2 concept – a “network of networks” to ensure reliable command and control. The alliance should leverage CJADC2 as a better framework for standardization and interoperability, paving the way for more complex joint operations. This requires a change in doctrine and a shift away from platforms to create a system of systems. Going forward, NATO needs this same approach to rapidly develop and deploy emerging defense and dual-use technologies for conventional and hybrid conflicts. This involves placing big, transformative bets on critical technologies, such as unmanned air and maritime systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and hypersonics. Coordinate with the EU. NATO should better leverage its ability to assign capability and spending targets to encourage its members to innovate. For instance, to complement the 2 percent of GDP defense spending benchmark, NATO could mandate that allies invest a certain portion of that into emerging technologies. It should also rework the 2 percent metric to include civilian investment in dual-use technologies that may fall outside of traditional defense budgets. Where NATO lacks the capacity to enforce these standards, the European Union brings the legislative and budgetary authority to promote them. NATO and the EU should coordinate research and development, provide seed funding toward these targets, and reinforce them with legal tools where possible. NATO and the EU should also initiate a strategic dialogue to address fundamental issues of tech governance and data sharing. The ability to employ emerging and disruptive technologies more effectively than competitors such as China and Russia will shape the global role of the United States and the transatlantic alliance in the coming decades. NATO has begun to talk the talk, but now it must walk the walk. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/2020/12/08/nato-needs-a-strategy-for-emerging-and-disruptive-technologies/

Graham Warwick December 02, 2020 The concept of a minimum viable product is not new to aviation. It is how the industry started. But as aircraft technology has advanced, customers have come to expect more than a minimum capability. Along comes Silicon Valley's startup culture, with its drive to find a foothold from which to launch a new technology—a less-than-perfected product that can be developed quickly to disrupt or create a market. How well is that going for aviation? From autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI) to hybrid-electric and hydrogen propulsion, is there a viable product taking shape that can perform a valuable mission? Autonomy The vision: unmanned cargo aircraft plying the skies to meet the ever-growing express logistics needs of the e-commerce giants. The reality: a pair of startups that are converting the Cessna Caravan into a remotely piloted regional cargo aircraft as a first step. The goal is that supervised autonomy would enable several aircraft to be managed by one remote pilot on the ground, increasing aircraft utilization and reducing operating costs. Reliable Robotics and Xwing plan to operate their aircraft manned initially, the autonomy advising the pilot while accumulating the experience required to certify the system. The companies hope to begin commercial flights by 2022. There are plenty of startups pursuing the express logistics market with unmanned cargo aircraft, but by targeting an existing market—several hundred Caravans fly as freight feeders for package carriers—and modifying an already certified aircraft and taking a staged approach to introducing autonomy, these two companies hope to lower the certification hurdles. Artificial Intelligence The vision: automated aircraft flown by machine-learning algorithms that replicate the skills of human pilots but not their mistakes. The reality: The initial approach is to use AI to help the pilot in high-workload phases of flight, such as landing. Swiss startup Daedalean is developing a camera-based system to provide safe landing guidance for general-aviation aircraft and vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicles. Airbus has the longer-term goal of bringing autonomy to its commercial aircraft but has started in the same place, demonstrating fully automatic vision-based takeoffs and landings with an A350 in April. By tackling one well-defined subtask of visual flying, and proving the system can be safer than human piloting, Daedalean hopes to create the path to certification of AI for safety-critical applications. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which has been working with the startup to frame the rules, expects the first AI applications to be certified in 2022. Hybrid-Electric The vision: propulsion systems that overcome the limitations of batteries to deliver the economic and emissions benefits of electrification in larger, faster, longer-range aircraft. The reality: Starting small, startups Ampaire and VoltAero are testing power trains in converted Cessna 337 Skymasters. Ampaire's route to market is to modify existing aircraft, beginning with the Skymaster as the four-seat, 200-mi. Electric EEL but moving on to the 19-seat de Havilland Canada Twin Otter. France's VoltAero, meanwhile, is taking the clean-sheet approach with plans for a family of hybrid-electric aircraft with up to 10 seats and 800-mi. range. Delivery of the initial four-seat Cassio 330 version is planned for 2023. While batteries have improved enough to make pure-electric urban air taxis feasible, longer ranges are still out of reach. But there are startups working to field all-electric nine- and 19-seat aircraft within just a couple of years of the first hybrid-electric types. It remains to be seen whether hybrid propulsion is just a stopgap, as with cars, or a long-term market niche. Hydrogen The vision: zero-emissions flight for aircraft of all sizes and ranges. The reality: adapting automotive fuel-cell technology to modify regional turboprops and kick-start the market for green hydrogen as an aviation fuel. ZeroAvia made the first flight of a six-seater with a fuel-cell power train from Cranfield, England, in September and plans a 300-mi. demonstration flight. The startup's route to market is to modify existing 10- and 20-seaters to hydrogen-electric propulsion, aiming for its first certification within three years. Universal Hydrogen is more ambitious, targeting the 50-seat de Havilland Canada Dash 8-300 for conversion to hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion for market entry by 2024. Introducing a new fuel to aviation is an infrastructure issue. By starting small, the startups believe the challenge of producing green hydrogen can be made manageable. But to have an impact on aviation's contribution to climate change, hydrogen needs to be scaled up to larger and larger aircraft as quickly as possible. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/aviation-startups-making-progress-can-they-disrupt-industry

Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — Experts expect President-elect Joe Biden's administration to build on the Trump administration's investments in emerging technologies, while adding to research and development budgets in the Defense Department and across the federal government. The incoming Biden administration signaled throughout the campaign that basic research and development funding would be a priority. Biden wrote in Foreign Affairs he would make research and development a “cornerstone” of his presidency and pointed to the United States having the “greatest research universities in the world.” “It's basic research that's the area where you get the breakthroughs, and you need long-term, sustained investments to build up a strong S&T base,” said Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security's technology and national security program. Biden's R&D investment is an expected change from the Trump administration's approach, which experts have noted is narrower in scope and focused on harnessing private sector innovation. “The reality is the U.S. private sector has eclipsed the government, which in some ways that can be good,” said Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities. “The private sector can move with greater agility than the government, but the private sector may not be focusing on developing those exquisite technologies that we need for the war fighter.” Experts told C4ISRNET they expect the Biden administration to invest more money in basic research areas and to reform immigration laws that slowed the innovation pipeline from abroad to the United States. “China is closing in. They are spending every year more and more on R&D. They will soon, if not already, be spending as much as we are, if not more on R&D,” Langevin said told C4ISRNET. “Congress has woken up to this problem.” Basic research Perhaps the most likely area the Biden administration is poised to change is basic research and development funding. According to annual reports from the Congressional Research Service, the Trump administration consistently proposed top-line cuts to federal research and development in yearly budget proposals. This included the fiscal 2021 budget proposal's $13.8 billion decrease in defense R&D over the fiscal 2020 funding enacted by Congress. While the Pentagon has often been spared from such cuts, the Trump administration has also suggested trimming the defense-related basic research budget line — money that is a “substantial source of federal funds for university R&D,” according to the Congressional Research Service. The White House's FY21 defense-related basic research budget line asked for a reduction of about 11 percent from FY20 enacted, or a $284.2 million decrease. Biden's campaign platform calls for a four-year investment of $300 billion in R&D for new technology such as 5G, artificial intelligence, advanced materials and electric cars. “A nation speaks to and identifies its priorities by where it puts its research dollars, where it puts its money,” Langevin said. “Basic research has to be more of a priority, and that's something I'm going to encourage the Biden administration to focus on.” Michèle Flournoy, thought to be a leading contender to become the next secretary of defense, has also written about the need to increase investment in emerging technologies to counter China. In Foreign Affairs in June, Flournoy wrote that “resilient battlefield networks, artificial intelligence to support faster decision-making, fleets of unmanned systems, and hypersonic and long-range precision missiles” will “ultimately determine military success.” “Continuing to underinvest in these emerging capabilities will ultimately have dire costs for U.S. deterrence,” she wrote. Congressional and think tank reports published during the Trump administration's tenure called for an increase in basic research funding. A report from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's strategic tech and advanced research subpanel, led by Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., recommended bumping up federal research and development funding from 0.7 percent to 1.1 percent of gross domestic product, or an increase of $146 billion to $230 billion. A report by the Council on Foreign Relations from 2019 applauded the Trump administration's requested increases in funding for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, now funded at $3.46 billion, and the Defense Innovation Unit, for which the Trump administration requested $164 million. Laying the groundwork Initiatives started under the Trump administration did provide a groundwork on which the Biden administration can build. Under the Trump administration, DARPA kicked off a $1.5 billion microelectronics effort. In artificial intelligence, the administration launched the American AI Initiative. However, the Council on Foreign Relations criticized that effort because it had no funding and left agencies to prioritize artificial intelligence R&D spending without metrics, while also drawing funds from other research areas. The administration also made an $1.2 billion investment in quantum information science. “The Trump administration started bringing national attention and federal focus to many of these technologies,” said Lindsey Sheppard, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I hope to see from the Biden administration perhaps a more cohesive guiding strategy for all of these pieces.” While the Trump administration has started many initiatives, the Council on Foreign Relations report also criticized the Trump administration's innovation strategy as an “incremental and limited approach,” writing that “action does not match the language officials use to describe the importance of AI to U.S. economic and national security.” While investment in future technology is important, defense budgets are expected to stay flat or decrease in the coming years. In her Foreign Affairs article, Flournoy acknowledge that the budgetary reality will require “tough tradeoffs.” Experts agree. “R&D programs are going to have to start being able to consistently, clearly articulate justifications for their budgets and the returns on investment,” Sheppard said. But the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for increased investments in research and development, Himes and Langevin argued. Both lawmakers identified biothreats as something they fear for the future. Biological threats are one area that DARPA — an organization Langevin pointed to as a major federal R&D success story — has triumphantly address. Commercial partners from DARPA's 3-year-old pandemic prevention platform program announced they developed a COVID-19 therapeutic using new techniques. “There's absolutely going to be a rethink,” Himes told C4ISRNET in an interview. “Are we correctly allocating money between the possibility that there could be a pandemic that kills a million Americans, versus the possibility that we're going to have to fight the Russians in the Fulda Gap? I think there's going be a lot of thinking about that. And there should be thinking about that because our money should go to those areas where there's the highest probability of dead Americans.” Immigration innovation Another way to improve American innovation in critical future technologies is by allowing highly skilled foreigners to work in the United States. Biden has hinted at changes that will affect American innovation through the expected reversals of President Donald Trump's immigration policies, which limited high-skilled workers from legally working in the country. The Biden administration's platform states it wants to reform the H-1B visa process that the Trump administration restricted, much to the chagrin of American tech companies, which use the program to hire top talent from abroad. Think tanks have recommended reforming the current U.S. immigration policy to attract international students, entrepreneurs and high-skilled workers because of the innovative ideas they provide. For example, an analysis by Georgetown University's Center for Security and Technology found that 68 percent of the United States' top 50 artificial intelligence companies were co-founded by immigrants, most of whom came the U.S. as students. “A lot of the Trump administration's policies — we're shooting ourselves in the foot making it so much harder for people to come here,” said Rasser, who wrote a report for CNAS last year calling for H1-B caps to be increased. “Because of the fact that people want to come to the United States to live and work, that's one of our greatest competitive advantages. It's something I expect the Biden administration to reverse.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/smr/transition/2020/11/29/how-the-biden-administration-is-expected-to-approach-tech-research-and-development/