Griffiths named as advisor for national SCSP group
February 10, 2022
Dakota State University President José-Marie Griffiths has been named an expert advisor for the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), which convened its second Board of Advisors meeting in Arlington, Virginia on February 2.
The SCSP is inspired by the Rockefeller Special Studies Project (SSP), launched in 1956 by Nelson Rockefeller and led by Henry Kissinger. In the midst of the Cold War, as the U.S. was facing roiling domestic and international conditions, Rockefeller and Kissinger brought together some of the nation’s leading thinkers to study the major problems and opportunities confronting the country to chart a path to revitalize American society, restore a strong bipartisan national security strategy, and renew American leadership.
SCSP is a new initiative that will make recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term global competitiveness for a future where artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies reshape our national security, economy, and society.
Chaired by businessman and software engineer Dr. Eric Schmidt, the advisory board members – Bob Work, Dr. Nadia Schadlow, Mac Thornberry, and Michèle Flournoy – and expert advisors met on Feb. 2 for a series of roundtable discussions with thought leaders on SCSP’s objectives and hard questions.
“Wednesday’s discussions focused on three areas of our work - democracy affirming technology development and policy, implications of future technology platforms for national competitiveness, and strategic rivalry with China,” said SCSP CEO Ylli Bajraktari.
“The discussion, led by Reid Hoffman, Dr. Ian Bremmer, and Dr. Eric Horvitz, was thought-provoking and added great value to the work of the talented SCSP staff,” said Schmidt. “I look forward to SCSP building on its momentum and developing a strategy to move faster and more competitively regarding critical technologies.”
The board and staff were joined by a growing group of bipartisan experts who will help develop recommendations.
SCSP Board of Advisors Member Schadlow explained, “Our advisors bring with them expertise from the private, public, and academic sectors that are essential in developing policies that can be implemented and that are more likely to be supported by private sector players, as well as our friends and allies.”
Dr. Henry Kissinger spoke to the board of advisors, experts, and SCSP staff, sharing with them the problems he and his colleagues addressed while working in the Rockefeller Special Studies Project and the challenges SCSP faces today. He commended the group on the tasking they are undertaking.
SCSP’s expert advisors are leaders from industry, academia, and government. The growing list of advisors includes:
Dr. Chris Ahlberg, Dr. Rob Atkinson, Nick Beim, Dr. Hal Brands, Dr. Erik Brynjolfsson, Mignon Clyburn, Dr. David Danks, Chris Darby, Rodney Faraon, Nate Fick, Christine Fox, Glenn Gaffney, Bonnie Glick, Greg Grant, Dr. José-Marie Griffiths, Reid Hoffman, Ben Horowitz, Dr. Eric Horvitz, Gilman Louie, Dr. Mike McQuade, Dawn Meyerriecks, RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, DJ Nordquist, Matt Pottinger, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Steve Rosen, Jonathan Rosenberg, Raj Shah, Lt Gen (Ret.) Jack Shanahan, Dean Souleles, and Dr. Amy Zegart.