Synopsis:

The lecture observes how our present strategies, institutions and processes developed in an aberrational environment – a post-World War II period characterized by American technological and economic dominance, US government shaping of R&D priorities, and US government rates of innovation that commonly confidently exceeded those of its cold war opponent. It discusses three characteristics of 21st century technology change that overturn our previous premises: loss of American government control, increased speed of change, and the growth in complexity and opacity of the technologies we employ. It describes how upheavals and debates that appear to be diverse reflect these underlying changes, rather as earthquakes at different times and places reflect a common cause as major tectonic plates rub against one another and one over-rides another.

About the speaker:

Richard Danzig is a Senior Advisor to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, a consultant to the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), Chair of the Advisory Panel for Idaho National Laboratories’ Innovation Center, and a member of the Toyota Research Institute Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Defense Policy Board and the Homeland Security Secretary’s Advisory Council, a Trustee of Reed College and of the RAND Corporation, a Director of the Center for a New American Security and a Director of Saffron Hill Ventures (a European investment firm). Dr. Danzig served as the Secretary of the U.S. Navy from 1998 to 2001 and the Under Secretary of the Navy between 1993 and 1997.  From the spring of 2007 through the Presidential election of 2008, Dr. Danzig was a senior advisor to Senator Obama on national security issues. Dr. Danzig holds a B.A. degree from Reed College, a J.D. degree from Yale Law School, and Bachelor of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.  Upon his graduation from Yale, Dr. Danzig served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White.

Contacts

For invitation enquiries please contact:-

Mr Muhammad Faizal
Research Fellow
Tel: (65) 6794-71574
Fax: (65) 6792-8701
E-mail: [email protected]