UNITED STATES INDUSTRY COALITION, INC.: ESTABLISHING AN INDIGENOUS COMMERCIALIZATION PROGRAM IN THE FSU

The terrorist attacks experienced by America during the Fall of 2001--the hijackings of commercial aircraft as well as the acts of biological terrorism--illustrate that the technological ability to launch destructive attacks against civilian populations and critical infrastructure spreads to more and more organizations and individuals with each passing year. Created under the authority of the National Cooperative Research Act of 1994 (U.S.C. 4301), the United States Industry Coalition, Inc. (USIC) is dedicated to the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The purpose of USIC is to facilitate the commercialization of technologies for peaceful purposes through the cooperative efforts of USIC members, the U.S. Department of Energy's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program, other U.S. government agencies, and the scientific institutes of the former Soviet Union (FSU). USIC is a membership organization composed of U.S. companies and universities. Together, the members of USIC redirect the skills and activities of FSU scientists and engineers engaged in the production of weapons of mass destruction to peaceful pursuits. In an effort to minimize the dispersion of the FSU scientific community--especially in the wake of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil--USIC is working to establish a sister organization in the Russian Federation. Over the years, some basic observations can be surmised from USIC’s experiences. First, U.S.-FSU partnerships should proceed with only those technological developments for which there likely will be a demand under market conditions. Second, they must carry out research and development work in a timely manner. If the time frame from project planning to commercialization is too long, a technological development can lose its novelty and, consequently, the interest of the market. Therefore, USIC works to decrease the time to market through collaboration and education. For example, project management training courses in the FSU are offered for project managers as well as “FSU Business Culture” workshops to promote the business skills of project participants. USIC also produces various publications to advocate the sharing of information and commercialization experiences in the FSU. Since 1994, over $164 million total U.S. program dollars have gone to 680 commercialization projects. Currently, a majority of commercialization efforts are largely dependent upon interest within U.S. markets. Through a sister organization, comprised of FSU companies and universities, USIC partnerships could extend its commercialization arm to include FSU and European markets as well. This paper researches how this expansion could supplement the achievements of U.S. Government nonproliferation programs and therefore Homeland Security initiatives.