Mission
About the National Security Data and Policy Institute
Mission
Established in August 2024 as the University of Virginia’s sixth institute, the National Security Data and Policy Institute works to harness government, academia, and industry to tackle the most urgent national security challenges.
The immediate research focus will be on creating tools to process the enormous amount of data created in the course of modern life and using AI and other technology to produce insights useful for analysts and decision-makers. Our researchers are working to develop tools and capabilities required to distill vast troves of information to connect disparate dots and piece together possible threats that might escape more traditional, time-consuming analysis. Analytical work that once took months to do—if it was possible to do at all—could be substantially aided by recent advancements in data science and artificial intelligence. The goal will be to create systems that help the human analyst or decision-maker perform their tasks.
The institute will also focus on preparing students at the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels for employment across the national security and intelligence community.
Lines of Effort
- Innovative Research: Contribute knowledge and solutions at the confluence of technological evolution, societal change, and national security policy
- Collaborative Networks: Build relationships among academic, government, and industry experts to accelerate the development and adoption of emerging technology to advance national security interests
- Policy Engagement: Help policymakers across government understand the legal, ethical, and national security implications of evolving technology and geopolitical change
Impact
The Institute creates lasting partnerships between key members of the intelligence community, produces innovative research, and analyzes challenges from new technologies.
For example:
Creating open-source research to enable strategic advantage
- Our research anticipates national security issues by analyzing open-source data to provide early warnings to decision makers.
- Our microelectronics supply chain analysis correctly predicted China’s April 2025 announcement of ultra-high purity quartz deposits in Altay and Qinling months before it became public.
- The Institute converts scattered academic research into actionable intelligence that gives U.S. policymakers strategic foresight before issues enter mainstream attention.
Developing policy analyses with influence on Capitol Hill
- We provide analysis to Congressional leaders, including a recent report to the Senate Intelligence Committee on global AI research competition that is now informing legislative decisions.
- The report found that U.S. leadership in AI talent is declining as fewer top researchers train in U.S. programs and more leave for positions elsewhere, while China continues expanding its capacity to educate and retain elite AI scientists.
- By identifying these trends early with unclassified data, NSDPI gave policymakers an actionable warning to address the talent gap before it worsens further.
Forging high-impact relationships with partners across the intelligence community
- We build collaborative partnerships across the intelligence community to advance shared missions.
- For example, we work closely with the National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC), providing computer modeling and technological capabilities not readily available to the Army. According to NGIC Commander Col. Eric Haas, this partnership allows NGIC to conduct deeper analysis of critical problems while leveraging university expertise to solve difficult intelligence challenges facing the nation.RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.
Get involved
We connect leaders from across academia, government, and industry to pursue solutions to national security challenges. Find out how you can start a partnership.
Connect with us
Begin an engagement with the National Security Data and Policy Institute.