Keeping Research Safe: Research Security Around the World
Aug. 27, 2024
—Research security is one of the great challenges facing the academic, corporate, government, and nonpublic sectors, with major implications for our ability to meet societal needs. Protecting assets and outcomes from misuse or unauthorized interference ensures that they remain a trusted source of innovation and a valuable asset to the creators’ and collaborators’ organizations. It’s a challenge to balance the desire to collaborate freely with the reality of a global technology race in which some competitors are not trustworthy.
Security frameworks
In January 2021, the White House issued National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33), which aims to protect government-funded research and innovation from foreign influence while balancing the open environment that allows innovation to thrive. It tasked the heads of U.S. research funding agencies to establish policies to achieve this goal. The resulting document was created that same year.
The U.S. NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance defines research security as safeguarding the research enterprise against the misappropriation of R&D to the detriment of national or economic security, related violations of research integrity, and foreign government interference. The implementation guidance outlines five key areas for research security:
- Disclosure requirements and standardization,
- Digital persistent identifiers (DPIs),
- Consequences for violation of disclosure requirements,
- Information sharing, and
- Research security programs.
Disclosure requirements ensure that researchers provide information about foreign affiliations, funding sources, and research activities. NSPM-33 also requires that agencies establish standardized requirements for their researchers to avoid potential conflicts of interest or foreign influence.
DPIs uniquely identify researchers and track academic achievements and affiliations, which may help streamline the disclosure process. Penalties for violations of NSPM-33 can include criminal, civil, and/or administrative consequences. The guidelines also facilitate safe information sharing and encourage agencies to collaborate and share their knowledge about research security, non-compliance, and potential threats. Lastly, NSPM-33 mandates that certain research organizations that receive over $50 million in federal research funding must implement compliant research security programs. The National Science Foundation, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense, has developed research security training to meet this mandate.
Worldwide research safety
Like the United States, most world governments or their agencies publish and implement research security policies. In 2023, U.K. Research and Innovation (UKRI) issued its Trusted Research and Innovation Principles, which outline how researchers must conduct due diligence when assessing partner suitability, manage and share knowledge safely, and ensure that data and intellectual assets are protected during the commercialization process.
The Canadian government has developed research security training courses to better equip Canadian researchers so they can protect their work and outputs. The courses cover general research security, cybersecurity, and balancing research security with research partnerships.
For additional information on data, research security, and other compliance issues, see the UIDP Contract Accords or the Insights for Researchers Learning Path.
Why it matters
Research security is important to maintaining the public’s trust in the research community. It is also important that research results are used for the right purposes and that adversaries are denied access to discoveries that protect national security and economic well-being. Understanding applicable institutional, regional, and national guidelines can help safeguard processes, information, and results while still allowing innovation and discovery to thrive.
We want to hear from you. How do you ensure compliance with research security standards in your collaborations? Let us know on LinkedIn.