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Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
This post is based on an interview with Dr. Jen Buss, President of Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. It is part of our series of interviews of OODA Network members. Our objective with these interviews is to provide actionable information of interest to the community, including insights that can help with your own career progression. We also really like highlighting some of the great people that make our continued research and reporting possible. For the full series see: OODA Expert Network Bio Series.
Career Progression: Jen has marched in a linear forward direction her entire life, a straight line to her current position at the top of one of our Nation’s greatest think tanks. She grew up outside of Annapolis MD, surrounded by government leaders. Her father was a Cryptographer in the Navy, and from an early age her natural inquisitiveness was encouraged. Wanting to spread her wings, she went out of state to the University of Delaware and picked the toughest degree that they offered: Chemical Engineering. By the end of her sophomore year, however, she realized that she didn’t want to do the work of a Chemical Engineer, which mostly entailed the manufacturing process. Not her thing. Hoping to stay on track for a four-year degree, she switched to Biochemistry, and loved it.
While working as an Intern during college, Jen conducted reviews on tobacco research. She discovered something very interesting about good research: it could influence good policies. From then on, Jen decided to focus on a career path that would enable her to have an impact on policies and the things that got funded. “Good science should inform the research priorities. That motivated me.” Jen says.
Jen continued her education at the University of Maryland, obtaining a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Upon graduation, she was hired at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, an independent S&T policy research institute that advises Government on trends that may have an impact on our national security. She was in her element! She moved quickly from VP of S&T to her current position: President! Her work consists of looking downstream at developing sciences and technologies and picking out the trends that might be important. Her organization regularly advises Congress on complex issues, and their inputs are woven through the Policies enacted across the Nation. “My work is my passion: when I am home, or on vacation, I’m STILL reading the same types of articles, books, etc. I have always thrived off of this work. It’s wonderful that I get paid to have fun!” Dr. Jen says.
Surprises: Dr. Jen uses many sources to discover important S&T trends, but she finds Academia to be the most useful. “Industry is looking for a quick return on investment; very short term. Even the Venture Capitalists only look about 2-3 years down the road. It falls on the Academicians to look way down stream – that’s their mission. They tend to be very conservative about their outlooks, but some of them have the big, bold, crazy ideas I am interested in!”
Technologies you are watching: Dr. Jen’s favorite area of interest is human exploration of Space. She believes some amazing new capabilities will come from thinking through the hard problems of expanding the human species beyond our planet. Dr. Jen wonders what the transformative effects of planning to put humans on Mars might be: telemedicine, precision medicine at a distance, assembling the right human mix to send, preparing solutions for problems that might be decades away. “We have set foot everywhere on this planet. Let’s go explore space and see how the Human Race will change. Space might just be the frontier we need to force changes here on Earth!”
Technology threats you are interested in: Dr. Jen’s biggest concern is data privacy. “Who has access to information about me and what can they do with it? Credit card companies know more about my spending habits than I do! This data could be used maliciously. A bad actor could create a Digital version of me that’s MORE REAL than I am!! That could redefine Identity Threat. Also, that data about me – I should have access to it! I should be able to learn from it too! It should be made available and useful to me, and if they are going to make a profit from it, I should get a percent.”
Advice for Decision Makers: Dr. Jen encourages decision makers to use as much data as possible to make decisions. “Ask for the best available science you can get, and then make a decision and live with it. There will always be MORE data later, and you can adjust as needed, but waiting to have ALL the data is a decision in itself!”
Views on Thought Leaders: Dr. Jen has been positively influenced by strong mentorship from her leaders, Mr. Michael Swetnam and General Gray, USMC (Ret.).
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About the Author
Chris Ward (Commander, U.S. Navy (Retired)) has over 30 years of experience helping the Department of Defense (DoD) solve difficult technology requirements. She has a proven track record of building, maintaining, securing and certifying technology solutions for use within DoD. She works with Industry to identify key opportunities and provides strategic guidance and support. She is a strategic analyst and cybersecurity professional who has deep expertise in improving enterprise cybersecurity.
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence