MITRE Creates New Center for Strategic Competition

Above, Ashton B. Carter, former secretary of defense and a MITRE distinguished visiting fellow, speaks at a program to launch MITRE's new Center for Strategic Competition.

Bedford, Mass., and McLean, Va., May 5, 2022—A new period of shifting global alliances has emerged, emphasizing strategic cooperation and competition across multiple economic, technological, and policy domains. MITRE’s new Center for Strategic Competition will provide U.S. government and industry leaders with unique insights into today’s complex challenges by integrating MITRE’s unmatched breadth of experience and cross-domain technical expertise with cutting-edge analytics and modeling capabilities.

“We need to, as ever in our post-World War II history, have a close and constructive relationship between the wider technology sector outside of defense and the needs of the country,” said Ashton B. Carter, former secretary of defense and a MITRE distinguished visiting fellow, at a program to launch the center. “The MITRE Corporation is a critical part of the mission of competing successfully in today’s world.”

The center will help create timely decision advantages for U.S. government and industry leaders who are trying to navigate an increasingly complex global dynamic, with its potential for unexpected outcomes and short-lived opportunities. This requires a broad vision and an agile approach that cuts across traditional stakeholder silos and embraces a whole-of-nation viewpoint. The center will focus on key areas of strategic competition, including policy, technology, innovation, economics, and military competition below armed conflict.

“Advanced technologies—including 5G, AI, and biotechnology—have become as important to a nation’s economic and national security as military strength,” said Charles Clancy, senior vice president, general manager, MITRE Labs, and chief futurist. “MITRE is building on our decades of experience tackling the toughest challenges faced by the United States to create a new nexus for our work, spanning technological, economic, and policy strength and resilience.”

“These folks [at MITRE] are patriots, they’re committed to this mission,” said Mike Rogers, chairman, MITRE Board of Trustees, national security expert, and a former U.S. Representative, at the launch event. “The information you’re getting, the product that you’re going to get here, will change the course and future of how we look at a very serious rising adversary.”

“The challenges facing the United States and its policymakers are complex and intertwined, requiring a whole-of-nation approach,” said Beth Meinert, vice president, director, Center for Government Effectiveness and Modernization. “The Center for Strategic Competition is the culmination of two years spent developing a framework and a set of analysis tools to provide a data-driven approach to identify and assess key areas of importance to strategic competition and national resilience.”

Media Contact: Jordan Graham, media@mitre.org