Virtual Report Launch: Forging an Alliance Innovation Base

At a virtual event on March 30, 2020, the CNAS Asia-Pacific Security Program released a new report advancing a blueprint for a community of technology innovation and protection anchored by America and its allies. Unless the United States builds this community—an “alliance innovation base”—it will steadily lose ground in the contest with China to ascend the commanding technological heights of the 21st century. Given that technology will increasingly determine future military advantage and underpin economic prosperity, the stakes could not be higher.

This event began with an interactive presentation of the report’s key findings and recommendations by the co-authors, Dr. Daniel Kliman, Ben FitzGerald, Kristine Lee, and Joshua Fitt, introduced by CNAS CEO Richard Fontaine. It included two panels. The first focused on how to leverage the U.S.-Japan alliance to forge an alliance innovation base, given Tokyo’s shared concerns about China’s technology ascendance, intense interest in technology protection, and enduring strengths in certain types of technology development. The second panel examined how the United States can work with a broader constellation of allies with disparate threat perceptions and capabilities to build a community of technology innovation and protection. The event concluded with an on-the-record fireside chat with Mike Brown, Director of the Defense Innovation Unit. Additional segments of the event will be made available in the coming weeks.

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