The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has teamed with the University of Maryland to open a new Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) at College Park, MD. Through the partnership, the DoD and the university hope to extend intelligence efforts for enhanced national security and to encourage careers in support of improved national security. ARLIS is one of 14 university-affiliated research centers (UARCs) in the U.S. for the DoD. The laboratory supports the DoD with basic and applied research into human and sociotechnical systems, including automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced computing (see the figure).
“ARLIS is the only UARC focused on the intelligence and security communities,” according to Deputy Defense Secretary, Kathleen H. Hicks. “It is a flexible and responsive organization. It leverages technology and science to meet increasingly critical national security challenges. It could not come at a better time,” she added.
Hicks pointing to a growing number of threats to the U.S., including from Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and the increasing danger of China as a threat: “Destabilizing actions threaten our critical infrastructure, undermine democratic institutions, and seek to erode our military readiness and competitive advantage. This dynamic threat landscape requires the Department of Defense to conduct research, innovate, and undertake dynamic experimentation. ARLIS will enable us to do exactly this.” ARLIS will attempt to get critical technologies into users’ hands faster, so that research can be transformed into useful solutions.