Artificial intelligence and UK national security: Policy considerations

RUSI was commissioned by GCHQ to conduct an independent research study into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for national security purposes. The aim of this project is to establish an independent evidence base to inform future policy development regarding national security uses of AI. The findings are based on in-depth consultation with stakeholders from across the UK national security community, law enforcement agencies, private sector companies, academic and legal experts, and civil society representatives. This was complemented by a targeted review of existing literature on the topic of AI and national security. The research has found that AI offers numerous opportunities for the UK national security community to improve efficiency and effectiveness of existing processes. AI methods can rapidly derive insights from large, disparate datasets and identify connections that would otherwise go unnoticed by human operators. However, in the context of national security and the powers given to UK intelligence agencies, use of AI could give rise to additional privacy and human rights considerations which would need to be assessed within the existing legal and regulatory framework. For this reason, enhanced policy and guidance is needed to ensure the privacy and human rights implications of national security uses of AI are reviewed on an ongoing basis as new analysis methods are applied to data

Visibility and activity: foreign affairs think tanks in the United Kingdom

publication-status: Publishedtypes: Articlepeer-reviewed electronic journal publishing postgraduate research in the field of politicsIf politics is about transforming ‘reality’, then think tanks are in the business of interpreting politics. However, there is a lack of research dealing with the way think tanks disseminate ideas. Although think tanks are publicly recognised, researchers face a number of difficulties in determining their exact impact on the policy process. As think tanks are mostly concerned with the climate of opinion, we aim to explore the ‘visibility’ and ‘activity’ of a comparable sample of three United Kingdom (UK) foreign policy think tanks, namely Chatham House, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. These are ranked amongst the most influential ‘foreign affairs’ think tanks in the UK. ‘Visibility’ signals the presence of think tanks on the Internet and in the media. ‘Activity’ reflects the understanding of ‘the political’ as outcomes generated by their publications, and networking activities of their members and staff. For this purpose, we combine the usage of digital methods for ‘visibility aspects’, and elite methods for ‘activity aspects’ as a means to explore a possible reconceptualisation of ‘influence’ by encouraging the academic debate to approach this concept beyond the conventional quantitative and/or self-referential inquiry

Data analytics and algorithms in policing in England and Wales: Towards a new policy framework

RUSI was commissioned by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) to conduct an independent study into the use of data analytics by police forces in England and Wales, with a focus on algorithmic bias. The primary purpose of the project is to inform CDEI’s review of bias in algorithmic decision-making, which is focusing on four sectors, including policing, and working towards a draft framework for the ethical development and deployment of data analytics tools for policing. This paper focuses on advanced algorithms used by the police to derive insights, inform operational decision-making or make predictions. Biometric technology, including live facial recognition, DNA analysis and fingerprint matching, are outside the direct scope of this study, as are covert surveillance capabilities and digital forensics technology, such as mobile phone data extraction and computer forensics. However, because many of the policy issues discussed in this paper stem from general underlying data protection and human rights frameworks, these issues will also be relevant to other police technologies, and their use must be considered in parallel to the tools examined in this paper. The project involved engaging closely with senior police officers, government officials, academics, legal experts, regulatory and oversight bodies and civil society organisations. Sixty nine participants took part in the research in the form of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and roundtable discussions. The project has revealed widespread concern across the UK law enforcement community regarding the lack of official national guidance for the use of algorithms in policing, with respondents suggesting that this gap should be addressed as a matter of urgency. Any future policy framework should be principles-based and complement existing police guidance in a ‘tech-agnostic’ way. Rather than establishing prescriptive rules and standards for different data technologies, the framework should establish standardised processes to ensure that data analytics projects follow recommended routes for the empirical evaluation of algorithms within their operational context and evaluate the project against legal requirements and ethical standards. The new guidance should focus on ensuring multi-disciplinary legal, ethical and operational input from the outset of a police technology project; a standard process for model development, testing and evaluation; a clear focus on the human–machine interaction and the ultimate interventions a data driven process may inform; and ongoing tracking and mitigation of discrimination risk

Digital cultural heritage: Collaborating with students and discovering lost museums

Our paper consists of two parts. First, we review the history of the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) museum, its collections, its closure and the dispersal of its collections. Second, we synthesize this analysis with a summary and reflection on the challenges of undertaking a collective memory project that represents the rise and fall of empire. To synthesize these two points, we discuss the museum’s history and highlight how digital cultural heritage initiatives have catalyzed an interest in digitizing and archiving RUSI’s collection records. Following our review of RUSI and its museum collection, we discuss the value of academics forming partnerships with cultural heritage institutions, and we analyze our experiences managing two student projects hosted at RUSI. Our discussion of student work will reflect on methods for designing engaging curriculum that encourages students to practice record keeping for cultural heritage institutions

COIN is dead - long live transformation

Donald Rumsfeld was right. Force transformation works. The techniques that led to the initial victories in Afghanistan in 2001 were precisely those that produced success in Libya in 2011.1 Small-scale deployments of special forces backed by precision strike and deep attack capabilities used to support an allied indigenous armed group proved an effective military tool for achieving specific strategic outcomes. In contrast, the results of large-scale troop deploy- ments as part of counterinsurgency (COIN), stabilization and nation-building activities over the past ten years in Iraq and Afghanistan have been less defini- tive. Despite intensive investment in blood, treasure, and military effort, the precise long-term outcomes of these two campaigns remain unclear and will be open to debate for years to come. This challenging operational experience has, however, highlighted some necessary and enduring truths about the use of military force. This paper explores those in light of the last ten years of counterinsurgenc

On the proliferation resistance of thorium-uranium nuclear fuel

This paper will highlight the historical and potential future uses of 232Th and 233U both in terms of civil and military applications. A brief section on the differences between 233U and 239Pu will be presented and how these could impact proliferation-resistance assessments. Finally, a set of open questions regarding 233U will be presented, some of which will be answered as part of this research project

The RUSI Journal in 1922

The journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies has provided a semi-authorised voice on British military affairs since 1857. In 1922 the British empire was at it's greatest extent, it was also breaking up. This article will analyse the contents of the journal issues for 1922 within this context

OMDDAC Practitioner Guidelines

These practitioner guidelines are presented by the AHRC funded ‘Observatory for Monitoring Data-Driven Approaches to COVID-19’ (OMDDAC) project. OMDDAC is a collaboration between Northumbria University and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), researching the data-driven approaches to COVID-19, with a focus upon legal, ethical, policy and operational challenges. OMDDAC has analysed key data-driven responses to COVID-19, collating lessons learned in ‘real time’ throughout the pandemic by way of representative public surveys, case study analysis and interviews with key stakeholders from a range of sectors (including local and central government, regulators, law enforcement, the medical and legal profession, charities and the third sector, the private sector, and an interdisciplinary range of academics). These practitioner guidelines have been informed by our research findings. The guidelines are relevant specifically to practitioners who work with data in the health and social care sector and in the law enforcement sector

Peacekeeping after Brexit

A one-day roundtable examining the UK’s relationship with UN peace operations in the context of Brexit was held on 7 September 2018 at RUSI. Organised by the British International Studies Association (BISA) Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Working Group in partnership with RUSI, the roundtable took as its starting point the broader question of the role of multilateral institutions in UK foreign and defence policy after the UK formally leaves the EU, and sought to identify and understand the role of peace operations within the framework of the ‘Global Britain’ agenda.Some 30 delegates from academia and the policy and NGO sectors provided perspectives on how different forms of engagement with UN peace operations could strengthen the UK government’s commitment to supporting a rules-based international system. The roundtable provided an opportunity for more focused policy discussions pertaining to how the UK commits to UN operations, what the commitment should look like, and what opportunities and challenges exist in the varying ways in which the UK can approach UN operations. This conference report captures the key issues and themes discussed by participants