COVID-19 Operational Environment Impacts

Speakers: Dr. James Canton (Institute for Global Futures) and Prof. James Giordano (Georgetown University Medical Center/US Naval War College)

Date: 1 April 2020

Speaker Session Summary

SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Dr. James Canton (Institute for Global Futures) and Prof. James Giordano (Georgetown University Medical Center/US Naval War College) as a part of its SMA General Speaker Series.

Post-Pandemic Impact Futures: Socio-economic and Geopolitical Threats to US National Security– A preview of Dr. Canton’s remarks

The pandemic is a game-changer—not business as usual. This brief forecasts the possible Impact Futures on US National Security and the operational environment, given COVID-19. Pandemic Geopolitics. China’s Neo-Mercantilism, The New Normal, the Perfect Storm, the Mad Max Scenarios. Great Power clashes. Rise of New Autocracies. Threat Convergence Futures. Rethinking national security posture given biosecurity risks. US asset class value erosion. Global supply chain realignment. Exponential S&T benefits. Long term impact on jobs and social unrest. Cyberattack vectors and upsurges. China/Russia non-kinetic warfare. Financial markets implosion to recovery timelines.

COVID-19: Demonstration and Lessons of Biosecurity Risks, Threats, and Preparedness– A preview of Prof. Giordano’s remarks

COVID-19 is not a weaponized biological agent. However, the scope and magnitude of the current pandemic serves to demonstrate existing gaps, limitations, and weaknesses in the United States current biosecurity and biothreat-response infrastructure and functional capabilities. As current governmental and civilian responses to COVID-19, disruptive impact(s), influence, and effects are incurred in the biomedical, socio-economic and political domains. In this briefing, Dr. James Giordano will posit extant gaps in US biosecurity and biothreat-response, address ways that demonstration of these limitations can provide vectors for both potential adversaries’ exploitation and Us course correction, and will propose a multi-step, whole-of-nation approach to bridge existing gaps, fortify the system of surveillance, readiness, and response, ad in these ways foster a stance of increased national preparedness. 

Speaker Session Audio Recording

Briefing Materials

Biographies:

TRADOC Mad Scientist James Giordano, PhD, is (Full) Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry, Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program, and Co-director of the O’Neill-Pellegrino Program in Brain Sciences and Global Law and Policy at Georgetown University Medical Center. He is Senior Fellow of the Project on Biosecurity and Ethics at the US Naval War College, Newport, RI; and consulting bioethicist to the US Defense Medical Ethics Committee, currently addressing response capabilities to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis. As well, he chairs the Neuroethics Subprogram of the IEEE Brain Initiative; is a Fellow of the Defense Operations Cognitive Science section, SMA Branch, Joint Staff, Pentagon; and is an appointed member of the Neuroethics, Legal and Social Issues Advisory Panel of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He has previously served as Donovan Senior Fellow for Biowarfare and Biosecurity at US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM); as Research Fellow and Task Leader of the EU-Human Brain Project Sub-Program on Dual-Use Brain Science; as an appointed member of the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP); and as senior consultant to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Working Group on Dual-Use International Neurotechnology.

A Fulbright scholar, Dr. Giordano was awarded the JW Fulbright Visiting Professorship of Neuroscience and Neuroethics at the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, GER, and currently is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Brain Science, Health Promotions, and Ethics at the Coburg University of Applied Sciences, Coburg, GER.

Prof. Giordano is the author of over 300 papers, 7 books, 21 book chapters, and 16 government white papers on brain science, national defense and ethics, his book, Neurotechnology in National Security and Defense: Practical Considerations, Neuroethical Concerns (2015, CRC Press) is widely regarded and used as a definitive work on the topic. In recognition of his achievements he was elected to the European Academy of Science and Arts, and named an Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK).

Dr. James Canton is a global futurist, social scientist, and advisor to business and governments. He is Chairman and CEO of the Institute for Global Futures, a leading San Francisco-based think tank and global advisory firm he founded in 1990. He has worked with three White House Administrations in advancing investments in future science and technologies.

His firm has advised over 100 governments and organizations around the world on global trends, operations, global risks and tech innovations. He directs the Global Risk Analytics and Innovation Strategy practice, which focuses on advanced science and technology innovations that impact markets, society and global security.

He advises the Fortune 100 corporations and governments worldwide on trends and global strategy in innovation, health care, work, climate, energy, security and demographics. The company analyzes advanced and emerging sciences and their impact on security, markets and society Specific technologies include: Nano science, neuroscience, bioscience, geo-intelligence, convergent technologies, data science, information and network science.

Dr. Canton has conducted forecasting projects, collaborations and advisory work for leading global companies including: HP, Google, Cisco, IBM, Apple, UPS, GE, Siemens, General Mills, Philips and McKinsey.

Dr. Canton has conducted advisory work, forecasting briefings and projects for a wide range of defense, intelligence and state department clients including: USSOCOM, CYBERCOM, SPACECOM, ODNI, Proteus, US Army War College, US Air Force, Pentagon Futures Group, Lawrence Livermore Labs, Sandia Labs, US State Department, The US Navy War College SSG and USSOCOM University.

Areas he has specialized in working with his government clients: The future of artificial intelligence, big data, analytics, cyber war, autonomous systems, dark networks, bio-nano-IT convergence, global threat rogue scenarios, threat finance, emerging science and technology uses for innovations in security, energy, communications, commerce and digital finance.

Dr. Canton was the first private sector advisor for the US Government on Nano science and Nano engineering when he was appointed to the National Science and Technology Council, NSTC in 1999. These efforts led to the National Nanotechnology Initiative. He has been involved in additional security and technology projects across US administrations for the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the White House Office of Science and Technology, (OSTP).

Prior to this he had worked in high tech startups (AI, computing, Internet), investment banking and policy development for the US government between 1978-1980. He was an executive at Apple Computer from 1981-1984 where he worked on the development and introduction of the Macintosh computer, conducted strategic forecasting and business development and forecasted the emergence of artificial intelligence working with government and private sector companies.

From 1985-1990 he was engaged in high tech and investment startups in the Bay Area. He co-founded and was CEO at UmeCorp one of the first artificial intelligence companies working in industrial controls and virtual reality platforms for NASA, Ford and both Asian and European clients. He went on to be serial entrepreneur working with Internet, mobile and AI companies engaged in Silicon Valley.

He was a partner at Swiss Occidental an investment-banking group, where he worked on global investments, cross border transactions and trade finance for multinational clients.

Dr. Canton has been an advisor to The National Science Foundation, the Research Visionary Board, Motorola Research, MIT’s Media Lab, EU, the International Advisory Council, Economic Development Board, State of Singapore, Fellow at the Neurotechnology Center at Potomac Institute, Founding Advisory Board and Co-Chairman, Futures Forecasting Track, Singularity University at NASA. He was Senior Fellow, Center for Research in Technology & Innovation at Kellogg School of Management.

He is the author of the books Future Smart, (2015); the Extreme Future (2007) and Technofutures (1998). He is a frequent guest of the media and is a commentator on Fox, CNBC, PBS and CNN. Forbes, Fortune, NY Times, PBS, and CNN.

Dr. Giordano’s relevant publications can be found at https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/opinions/reopen-america-coronavirus-gerstein-giordano/index.html and:

Dr. Canton’s relevant publication can be found at https://cgsr.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/STATEGIC_LATENCY_Book-WEB.pdf