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While liberal democracies had innovation dominance for much of the 20th century, authoritarian regimes are challenging Western technological supremacy in the 21st century a new report from the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney argues.
In Deepening Britain’s integration into the American National Technology and Industrial Base (NTIB), author Sophia Gaston, a Research Fellow with the Centre for Statecraft and National Security at King’s College London, assesses the UK’s engagement with the US NTIB, and the key challenges to and opportunities for military technology innovation.
Director of Foreign Policy and Defence Dr Lavina Lee noted, “The United Kingdom has successfully built goodwill with the Trump administration. Translating that amity into deeper collaboration on defence innovation will be essential if the United States does not want to lose its technological edge vis-à-vis China.”
The report finds that while many opportunities to accelerate innovation are adjacent to the NTIB, bilateral and minilateral efforts like AUKUS Pillar II provide more appealing opportunities for faster and impactful collaboration. Creating ‘innovation corridors’, harmonising acquisition cycles and streamlining vetting processes for security clearances were highlighted as practical steps that could be taken.
“The United States and its allies are not going to stay ahead in the tech race if they are constantly playing catch up. Deliberate steps to boost innovation through allied collaboration will be essential to building and maintaining a strategic advantage,” Dr Lee concluded.
Deepening Britain’s integration into the American National Technology and Industrial Base is the first report in a series looking at the US NTIB.
Key recommendations
To advance the deepening of US-UK defence industrial collaboration, and trilateral cooperation through AUKUS, the United Kingdom should consider:
- Exploring a new joint advanced technology fund to support collaborative research between leading US and UK universities, including dedicated advanced capability PhD programmes leading to guaranteed employment, which produce greater numbers of home students.
- Establishing collaborative place-based ‘innovation corridors’ between high-performing UK and US universities and private sector technology firms, to foster collaboration on rapid research commercialisation and streamline talent sharing.
- Pursuing greater alignment between US and UK defence acquisition processes, including efforts to harmonise requirements, acquisition cycles, procurement, and contracting systems.
- Pursuing greater industrial security reforms through AUKUS, including further streamlining defence trade controls and establishing a more transparent, efficient and reciprocal vetting process for security clearances, to facilitate greater innovation cooperation.