In this message I want to collect and share a number of recent developments in research security and science nationalism. I’ll break this into three sections: US National Science Foundation (NSF) developments; NIST developments; and developments in international access to information resources. I hope these are helpful.
NSF
NSF now has a substantial page that collects many resources and pointers dealing with research security. This is at
https://new.nsf.gov/research-security
Of particular note here, I want to note that the NSF Director has issued a recent Dear Colleague letter calling for input on a Research Security and Integrity Information Sharing Analysis Organization (RSI-ISAO). See
https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf23098
and there will be webinars on May 18 and May 24 following up on this. To register and for further information, see
https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_vkOR6TrlRR6sb-03wmMYXA
(note that it’s one webinar, repeated). There’s also more information on this initiative on the research security page mentioned above.
Also, there’s a report from JASON titled “Research Program on Research Security” at
which is interesting reading; my understanding is that NSF will use this as a starting point for developing program of research on research security in the coming fiscal year.
NIST
(with thanks to Gary Price for some of these pointers)
The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued revisions to Standard SP 800-171 for protecting sensitive unclassified information (including research data, in some cases). The announcement is here
and will host a webinar on June 6 discussing the details of the updates. For more information and registration see
https://csrc.nist.gov/Events/2023/protecting-cui-draft-sp800171-rev3
The webinar will be recorded and NIST will likely make the recording available.
International Access to Information Resources
A few weeks ago, a list posting from Jim O’Donnell of ASU called attention to the following curious news article
and there were some subsequent institutional announcements, such as
https://cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2023/04/13/select-cnki-resources-undergo-temporary-suspension/
Recently, there was an interesting Wall Street Journal (sorry, paywall) article that provides some important background on this
Further developments on this are worth tracking, I think.
Clifford Lynch
Director, CNI
