Research security is a growing challenge for academic institutions, the Canadian government, researchers, and the general public, and includes issues such as institutional partnerships, cyber-attacks, interference, espionage, and transferring researchers’ proprietary knowledge and IP from Canada without their consent or knowledge.
A two-day conference, Research Security in today’s Geo-Political Era, held at the University of Waterloo in February was aimed at raising awareness and understanding among faculty and staff on a number of issues such as:
- the appropriate application of potential policies and procedures regarding legal protection of IP,
- export control of dual use technologies, and;
- the growing requirements of tri-council research grant agencies.
The conference featured panelists with expertise in the area of foreign threats to research including academics, leaders of various funding agencies, and senior government officials working on national security, public safety and national defence. The workshop was aimed at helping to build broad awareness among the academic community regarding the importance of research security, the risks to research, along with direction and guidance on how to protect research and assess risks in partnerships.
The conference was supported by funding from the Government of Canada’s Incremental (IPG) Project Grant.
August 2023