Latest Research
Microelectronics Supply Chain Analysis: Vulnerability and Lock-In
International trade networks encompass interactions among numerous countries across a wide range of commodities and products. This complexity makes it difficult to identify points of system-wide vulnerability. In this product, we present the results of a network algorithm that rapidly pinpoints the most critical countries across sets of critical materials. This algorithm leverages network theory to provide analysts and policymakers with a concise and rigorous ranking of countries whose removal from the trading system would crate the largest shock.
China sees the United States as a leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and itself as a “leading pursuer (领先的追赶者).” Beijing is leveraging its collective national resources, industrial capacity, and large pool of STEM specialists to become the world’s leading center of AI innovation by 2030, a goal from which Beijing is not likely to deviate since AI advances are part of China’s longstanding drive for modernization.
Advanced microelectronics are foundational to American economic vitality and military capability. In this report, we use machine learning tools to analyze the underlying structures of global trade flows for microelectronic precursors, offering policymakers tools to evaluate the resilience of the system and identify the emergence of potential rivals.
China views artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) as foundational to its strategic goals of national rejuvenation, economic modernization, military enhancement, and global influence. Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has embedded AI/ML into a broader “Digital China” strategy, designed to transform governance, society, and industry through data-driven modernization.
Research Programs
Research and Policy Papers
The NSDPI collaborates with an extensive network of partners across academia, government, and industry to publish research articles, foreign literature reviews, and data policy white papers. The Institute’s work aims to accelerate the development and adoption of emerging technology to advance U.S. national security interests. Click below to browse the NSDPI’s full research directory.
AI Based Research Algorithms and Comparative Analysis
The NSDPI’s unique partnerships and resources allow it to analyze potential threats to national security through the use of sophisticated AI. Relying on an extensive network of subject matter experts and UVA’s high-performance computing systems, the Institute is developing algorithms to improve the detection of money laundering, trade sanction evasions, efforts by foreign security services to offshore assets, and the dangerous flow of critical goods and components to certain foreign buyers. The NSDPI is also harnessing its AI capabilities to conduct comparative analysis of emerging technology in the US and People’s Republic of China (PRC), identifying where gaps exist in fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced compute, advanced materials, advanced microelectronics, biotechnology, next-generation technology, and quantum applications.
Postdoc Research Program (PRP)
The NSDPI's Postdoc Research Program (PRP) recruits, manages, and supports Fellows tasked with conducting cutting-edge research in the Institute's major areas of focus. These postdoc researchers bring expertise in a variety of interconnected fields at the intersection of technology and national security policy. The Institute provides PRP Fellows with access to a Virtual Research Environment (VRE), shared Institute resources, and a collaborative workspace that fosters interdisciplinary cooperation to produce new insights.
Virtual Research Environment (VRE)
The NSDPI’s Virtual Research Environment (VRE) is a secure, remotely accessible space for the Institute and its Postdoc Research Program Fellows, personnel from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), staff and students from the National Intelligence University (NIU), and other authorized users to conduct groundbreaking research. The VRE’s shared coding repository and research resources are expected to bolster the work of over 100 users, supporting projects at the intersection of emerging technologies and foreign relations that play a crucial part in informing US national security policy.