Research and Innovation Series (RIS) – Part X: Reframing Research Security for the Future of International Science and Technology Collaboration

The Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), through its Stockholm Center for Research and Innovation Security (SCRIS), is pleased to invite you to the next webinar in its Research and Innovation Series (RIS), featuring David Biggs, Senior Fellow at ISDP and former U.S. diplomat specializing in international science and technology. 

Organized by the Stockholm Center for Research and Innovation Security (SCRIS), the webinar series promotes dialogue and exchange of ideas related to research and innovation. By bringing together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners, the series aims to deepen understanding of the policies, government frameworks, and the emerging challenges impacting research and innovation security.  

In this webinar, David Biggs will present a forward-looking perspective on research security that moves beyond compliance-driven approaches. Drawing on recent policy developments across Europe and North America, he will discuss how governments, universities, funding agencies, and researchers can build resilient research ecosystems while remaining internationally connected. 

The discussion will explore several key questions, including: 

• How should research security progress to support the future of international science and technology collaboration? 
• Can openness and security be mutually reinforcing rather than competing objectives? 
• What roles should governments, universities, funding agencies, and researchers play in promoting trusted international partnerships? 
• How can science diplomacy and responsible internationalization strengthen resilient research ecosystems? 
• What lessons can Europe draw from emerging international approaches to research security? 

The webinar will provide participants with practical insights into the future of research security governance, the balance between openness and resilience, and the policies needed to sustain secure and trusted international scientific cooperation in an increasingly complex geopolitical environment. Melita Phachulia, Executive Assistant, will moderate the discussion. 

Join us for this timely discussion as part of ISDP’s Research and Innovation Security (RIS) Webinar Series on the future of research security and international science and technology collaboration. 

Speaker:

David Biggs is a Senior Fellow at ISDP.  He is a former U.S. diplomat and Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. State Department, having served more than 15 years in the foreign and civil service of the United States.  David’s area of expertise is international science and technology (S&T) diplomacy, particularly focusing on research security, global scientific collaboration, and bilateral and multilateral policy development. 

In his final role in the U.S. Government, David was the State Department’s lead on research security and a team lead in the State Department’s Office of Science and Technology Cooperation – the office that was responsible for negotiating and overseeing all of the bilateral Science and Technology Agreements and cultivating new and ongoing S&T relationships with partner countries.  He has represented the U.S. Government in hundreds of bilateral and multilateral research security and S&T policy discussions throughout his career, and was the lead architect of the Department’s approach and policy positions on research security under the Biden administration. 

David holds a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School and is excited to be a part of charting a future path for Sweden and the broader EU for S&T collaborations.