U.S. Air Force 2030 Science and Technology StrategyThis Strategy secures the Air Force’s continued technological advantage over rapidly developing state competitors in 2030 and beyond in support of the National Defense Strategy. It focuses research in multidisciplinary directions to enable that advantage and paves the way to convert new technologies into transformational warfighting concepts. It makes important changes to science and technology management at the headquarters and laboratory levels to more effectively develop those concepts and support their transition into the future force. Through sustained commitment to implementing the goals of this Strategy, the Air Force will position itself to continue to deliver disruptive innovations to the Joint warfighter to ensure the nation’s defense.The Science and Technology Strategy of the 1970s was about conferring unprecedented force multiplication advantage to our military. While force multiplication is still a key component of our technology advantage, the vision of this Strategy is an Air Force that dominates time, space, and complexity in future conflict across all operating domains to project power and defend the homeland. This means that it operates at an unmatched pace of action, achieves unparalleled reach of awareness and effect, and harnesses the power of complexity to enhance resilience in contested environments and impart overwhelming confusion on adversaries. Air Force science and technology will drive the transformational operational capabilities that will make this vision a reality.U.S. Air ForceUSAF_f44f343c-b6c9-11e2-b3e2-1be1e2f52354An Air Force that dominates time, space, and complexity in future conflict across all operating domains to project power and defend the homeland._c31dd9ea-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab165To provide airmen the scientific and technological advances needed to deter war and protect vital national interests._c31ddc42-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab165CapabilitiesDevelop and Deliver Transformational Strategic Capabilities_c31ddd82-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1651Air Force Research LaboratoryThe Air Force Research Laboratory is an essential and central component of this enabling and enduring research component. The current science and technology investment portfolio is organized, funded, and managed using a structure aligned to technical disciplines, specifically the technology directorates comprising the Air Force Research Laboratory. While appropriate for enabling and enduring science and technology, this structure is not well suited for developing the transformational, multidisciplinary, system-of-systems technology solutions needed to enable new Air Force warfighting capabilities. Therefore, the Air Force will allocate a dedicated fraction of its overall science and technology budget to a transformational component of the portfolio and manage this component independently. The initial target for the transformational portfolio is at least 20% of the annual science and technology budget. This target may be modified over time.This Air Force recognizes the need for two components of the investment portfolio that are appropriately balanced—a broad-based, enabling, and enduring component driven by technological opportunities and gaps in capabilities and a more focused transformational component driving future force design. The enabling and enduring component largely exists today. This component of the scientific and technical enterprise focuses on discovering new technology of Air Force relevance, identifying solutions to established Air Force mission gaps, maturing emerging technology into Air Force systems, and responding to urgent needs. It encompasses basic research (Budget Activity [BA] 1), applied research (BA2), advanced technology development (BA3), and advanced component development and prototypes (BA4) ... Pursue Multidisciplinary Solutions to Deliver Strategic Capabilities The transformational component will focus on advancing technology solutions along the following five strategic capabilities to move the Air Force from a current force challenged by increasingly sophisticated adversaries to a future force that dominates time, space, and complexity in future conflict: 1. Global Persistent Awareness 2. Resilient Information Sharing 3. Rapid, Effective Decision-Making 4. Complexity, Unpredictability, and Mass 5. Speed and Reach of Disruption and Lethality Grounded in the National Defense Strategy’s key operational problems, these strategic capabilities were determined through a mission integration analysis leveraging the expertise and insights of Air Force future force strategists, stakeholders from across the Air Force, and leading researchers and technologists across industry, academia, and government. Foundational to battlespace superiority, these capabilities may have had different names at different times in our warfighting past, but they are timeless in their importance. They are not exhaustive but describe the most pervasive needs underlying different Air Force missions. They focus scientific and technical attention on interdisciplinary military challenges and promote competition among alternative ideas and solutions. They encompass both U.S. offensive capabilities and defenses against enemy capabilities. They apply across domains and to both conventional and nuclear missions. Focusing on these capabilities instead of individual technologies will drive a competitive environment where research competes to develop solutions to the most challenging Air Force problems. The strategic capabilities, technological opportunities, and strategic issues are described next and summarized in Table 1.AwarenessSupport continuous and timely knowledge of adversaries throughout the operating environment via distributed sensing across all domains._c31de016-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1651.1Global Persistent Awareness -- Global persistent awareness is critical for the Air Force to win in a dynamic battlespace. Warfare is becoming increasingly complex due to contested communications, maneuvering targets, and rapidly changing threats. To achieve information superiority, the Air Force must gather decision-quality intelligence and act on it faster than adversaries can react. The Air Force has developed powerful sensing capabilities, including in space and on unmanned air vehicles. However, these capabilities may become vulnerable in conflicts against increasingly capable and lethal adversaries. Current assets are expensive and sometimes lack persistence. Additionally, the data processing and analysis are human-intensive, lack speed, and are often overwhelmed with raw sensor data. The Air Force must develop capabilities that provide on-demand awareness of adversary actions anywhere on the globe by securely gathering, processing, and fusing multiple types of trusted data from a large, diverse set of sensors. Lower-cost sensors integrated on distributed platforms can provide resilience through numbers and redundancy and complement more exquisite sensors on standoff platforms in the air, space, and cyberspace domains. Research in the cyberspace domain provides intelligence directly from electronic-network data, helps convert raw data into timely and useful information, and extends information beyond object and activity identification to include adversary intent. Edge computing autonomously analyzes sensor data at the source, accelerates the speed of intelligence processing, and reduces the demand on communications networks. The Joint and Allied Force networks will share processed intelligence to enable rapid decision-making and effective delivery.Information SharingCoordinate across all Joint Force assets through assured communications and precise positioning, navigation, and timing information resilient to any denial methods._c31de142-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1651.2Resilient Information Sharing -- The Joint Forces’ ability to coordinate actions and combine their effects across multiple domains hinges on rapid and resilient information sharing. While not always highly visible, information sharing underlies much of what the Air Force does. It requires high-performance electronic connectivity to flexibly and reliably link computers and systems, manned and unmanned, of different types and generations. Information sharing also requires that those elements obtain precise data regarding time and position, which underlies navigation and synchronization for military operations. The military’s demands on these capabilities exceed the limits of current wireless network technology, even under favorable circumstances. In future conflicts, the challenge will be far beyond any of those encountered in the commercial sector. The Air Force cannot rely on the commercial sector to have ready solutions for electronic warfare, Global Positioning System denial of service, and platform attrition. The Air Force must pursue new, highly flexible, and resilient battle network technology that moves away from previous generation, hub-and-spoke connectivity toward highly redundant mesh networks where systems of different types can connect flexibly and automatically. Such networks will autonomously share data of different types and classification levels across the Joint and Allied Forces. They will adjust gracefully to degradation and reconfigure and change in spectrum, as needed, to maintain connectivity. Enabling research will include software-defined systems, real-time spectrum awareness, interference detection and compensation, dynamic topology management, encryption, and quantum methods for data security. More robust satellite-based services and new position, navigation, and timing methods based on quantum science, vision-based methods, and other mechanisms must be developed. Information technology and networking must become pervasive strengths of Air Force research. The Air Force must also effectively leverage the vast capabilities and investments that exist in the commercial sector and combine them with Air Force-specific research to solve these complex challenges.Decision-MakingIncrease the speed of battlespace understanding and decision-making to act faster than any adversary._c31de264-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1651.3Rapid, Effective Decision-Making -- Increasing complexity and speed of the battlespace means that the demands on combat decision-makers are outstripping the cognitive capacity of the unaided human. From the cockpit to the headquarters, supporting technology is increasingly vital to process information, separate what is important from what is not, and present it in ways that can be quickly understood and acted upon. As adversaries upgrade their technology, staying ahead in the continuous race for faster and better decision-making will enable warfighting success. Automation is especially important in electronic and cyberwarfare where contests occur at far-beyond-human speeds. Where possible, automation can assist electronic warfare, cybersystems, and other means to hinder the adversary’s decision-making by introducing uncertainty. Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics are essential to this effort. As the Air Force builds this new core competency, it will need to partner with the commercial sector. To realize the potential of artificial intelligence, the Air Force scientific and technical enterprise must push well beyond developed commercial applications in overcoming major challenges to effective military employment. These include unpredictable and uncertain physical environments, noisy and unstructured data from dissimilar sources, limited training data for machine learning, and the high levels of trust required to support lethal combat operations. Human effectiveness research in cognitive science, data presentation, and human-machine interfaces is also vital to optimize human-machine teaming performance.Complexity, Unpredictability & MassOverwhelm adversaries with complexity, unpredictability, and numbers through a collaborative and autonomous network of systems and effects._c31de3c2-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1651.4Complexity, Unpredictability, and Mass -- The current force structure relies on relatively small numbers of very valuable assets designed to penetrate highly contested operating environments and sustain operations at forward bases. This creates vulnerabilities for U.S. forces and limits the courses of action available to U.S. warfighters in complex and unpredictable battlespaces. To become more agile, the Air Force must augment its high-end platforms with larger numbers of inexpensive, low-end systems. Swarms of low-cost, autonomous air and space systems can provide adaptability, rapid upgradability, and the capacity to absorb losses that manned systems cannot. By leveraging advances in artificial intelligence, low-cost sensors, and networked communications, low-end systems can restore the agility to attack adversary weaknesses in unexpected ways by exploiting numbers and complexity. Progress will rely heavily on a wide range of robotics and autonomy technologies, along with sensors and wireless communications. The growing autonomous vehicle market provides an industrial and applied research base that the Air Force can leverage, but military research is needed well beyond what can be expected from the commercial sector. Multidisciplinary efforts are needed to combine research across low-cost platforms, agile digital and additive manufacturing, modular component and material technologies, autonomous system algorithms, and risk-based certification. Methods are needed to control large numbers of autonomous systems coordinated with traditional manned assets. Artificial intelligence advances are needed to achieve high levels of intelligence in small, embedded systems and execute complex missions with trust.Speed, Reach & LethalityRapidly disrupt and neutralize dynamic and mobile targets using new methods to attack with speed and global reach._c31de4f8-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1651.5Speed and Reach of Disruption and Lethality -- Future adversaries will contest access to all warfighting domains - air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace. The Air Force must field a combination of weapons and effects with greater speed and reach. This will include advanced penetrating kinetic weapons combined with new effects from the electromagnetic spectrum and the space and cyberspace domains to create new offensive and defensive options. The Air Force must operate above the speed and beyond the range of its potential adversaries. Many technologies offer potential. These will advance in a program that includes competitive prototyping and experimentation to assess relative advantages and applications. Like current supersonics, hypersonics has the potential to become a pervasive capability to engage time-critical, heavily-defended, and high-value targets. Advanced smart munitions and unmanned aerial vehicles can penetrate adversary defenses through numbers, stealth, agility, and maneuver. Research in microwave and laser-directed energy systems will pursue offensive and defensive weapons with deep magazines engaging at the speed of light. Cyberoperations, electronic warfare, and artificial intelligence will be combined to degrade and defeat adversary threats and provide access to contested environments, outpacing even the fastest kinetic weapons with tremendous reach.Leadership & ManagementReform the Way Science and Technology Is Led and Managed_c31de62e-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652Technological innovation, and the military’s operational innovation that comes with it, is a primary determinant of Air Force warfighting advantage. Yet the voice of Air Force science and technology within the Air Force’s strategic planning and investment decision-making processes is weak. No senior individual has primary responsibility for Air Force science and technology. Its roles and responsibilities disperse within different offices of the Air Force Secretariat, the Air Staff, and the Air Force Materiel Command. The heads of Air Force major commands outrank and overrule the most senior scientific and technical leaders, shifting the focus of scientific and technical resources toward nearer term priorities. This lack of a coherent, strong voice for science and technology lies at the core of the imbalance between science and technology that supports existing needs and concepts and science and technology that advances transformational warfighting concepts that can deliver substantial leaps in dominating, time, space, and complexity. While mechanisms such as the Capability Development Council have aimed to address parts of this gap, more must be done.CTOEstablish an Air Force Chief Technology Officer_c31de78c-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.1U.S. CongressThe creation of a Chief Technology Officer may require the approval of Congress, potentially including a statutory change of the responsibilities of Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force. Details regarding the authorities and responsibilities of the Chief Technology Officer and his or her relationship to existing authorities and responsibilities across the Headquarters Air Force staff, major commands, and acquisition centers will be determined during the implementation phase of this Strategy.Leading technology companies closely align and manage their technology investments as a core part of their strategic decision-making process. Almost always, it is the company’s Chief Technology Officer guiding these investment decisions. The Air Force may need an authority, in a role analogous to a large company’s Chief Technology Officer, to oversee the science and technology portfolio and champion the needs of long-range, disruptive new capability development. A Chief Technology Officer would provide a strong voice within Air Force Headquarters and could prioritize and coordinate science and technology across the Service to support the mission, from early-stage research, through developing new concepts, through experimenting and prototyping, to transitioning mature technologies into the Air Force acquisition system. A unified voice at a senior level in the Service could ensure that technology investments produce transformational new capabilities and inform policy and doctrine to shape the missions ahead. A Chief Technology Officer would also nurture the Air Force's scientific community and ensure effective workforce development for civilian and military scientists and engineers... Given science and technology investments must now be made in competing areas, both inside and outside of the Air Force Research Laboratory, science and technology needs a strong voice at a senior level within the Air Force. Creating a Chief Technology Officer role could enhance focus on the science and technology required to secure the technical advantage of the Air Force for future decades.Authorities & ResponsibilitiesEstablish the Chief Technology Officer's Authorities and Responsibilities_c31de8e0-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2Prioritizing, planning, and budgeting Air Force scientific and technical activities is a complicated, constantly-evolving endeavor that requires input from senior Air Force leadership, major commands, and acquisition centers. It must balance short-, mid-, and long-term needs. The process involves a complex set of stakeholders, forums, and documents. Currently, no one clear, singular voice represents the scientific and technical enterprise in this process. While the current process works, a Chief Technology Officer could improve and accelerate the process through the following: * Coherent, focused leadership of transformational science and technology including strategic capabilities and vanguard programs. * Better integration of needs across the range of stakeholders to align common interests and support the formulation of interconnected, cross-domain solutions. * A stronger, centralized authority to unify strategic direction and sustain its focus within the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution process and in developing the science and technology input for the Air Force budget. * Greater engagement of the scientific and technical enterprise to provide input and feedback on developing new operational concepts to meet the threats and challenges of the future Air Force. A Chief Technology Officer would deliver these strategic improvements in planning, executing, leveraging, and overseeing science and technology using the following authorities and responsibilities.Strategic PlanningLead Strategic Planning at Headquarters_c31deab6-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.1WarfightingBe the authoritative voice of science and technology for developing and implementing future warfighting concepts by AFWIC and other Air Force organizations responsible for long-term strategic planning._c31decaa-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.1.1Ensure that the scientific and technical portfolio aligns to produce technology enabling long-term mission concepts and capabilities developed by AFWIC. Communicate scientific and technical advances that could inform the development of these mission concepts and capabilities.Policy & AuthoritiesChampion and implement policy and authorities enabling rapid and agile resourcing, hiring, prototyping, and experimenting capabilities within Air Force science and technology to achieve necessary flexibility for addressing the challenging future environment._c31dee26-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.1.2Planning, Programing & BudgetingServe as the central voice for the scientific and technical enterprise in the planning, programing, and budgeting process._c31def8e-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.1.3IntegrationIntegrate With the Major Commands and Acquisition Authorities_c31df11e-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.2InvestmentsIntegrate and prioritize scientific and technical investments to produce a balanced and optimized portfolio to meet the present and future scientific and technical needs of the major commands and acquisition centers._c31df29a-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.2.1Ensure coordination of priorities with the Headquarters staff, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, and the Secretary of the Air Force.Policy, Strategy & ResourcesDevelop policy, strategy, and resource allocations for science and technology across the Air Force from BA1 to BA4._c31df40c-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.2.2CapabilitiesOversee and approve the strategic capabilities driving the transformational element of the scientific and technical portfolio and manage the process to select vanguard programs._c31df59c-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.2.3PortfolioManage the Air Force's Scientific and Technical Portfolio_c31df722-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.3OversightServe as the individual with direct oversight of the Air Force Research Laboratory._c31df894-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.3.1Air Force Research LaboratoryOrganization & ResourcingEnsure the scientific and technical enterprise portfolio is organized and resourced in dollars and manpower to appropriately lead, leverage, or watch across the technical disciplines required to support the needs of the Air Force's functions and capabilities._c31dfc18-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.3.2Acquisition, Finance & PersonnelEnsure that the acquisition, finance, and personnel tools and processes for the scientific and technical enterprise uses current authorities and expand those authorities to increase speed and efficiency of executing research within the portfolio._c31dfd9e-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1652.2.3.3EnterpriseDeepen and Expand the Scientific and Technical Enterprise_c31dff06-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653As the center of mass of technological innovation shifts away from the Defense Department, it is more important than ever for the Air Force to renew its focus on scientific and technical talent. This Strategy focuses internally on organic scientific and technical expertise and externally on the expansive partnerships necessary to effectively leverage global innovation. Air Force technological superiority has always relied on a national and international enterprise, including government laboratories and a synergistic network of universities, industry, and allies. As allies and adversaries become more technologically capable, these relationships will become even more important. Home to much of the organic expertise, the Air Force Research Laboratory plays a vital role in translating and transitioning innovation fostered by these partnerships into Air Force capabilities. The Air Force must maintain strong internal scientific and technical expertise and deepen external partnershipsEngagement & SupportEngage and Support a Technical and Driven Workforce_c31e0078-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1The Air Force's scientific and technical workforce is foundational to maintaining and accelerating technological advantage. The Air Force aims to attract, develop, and retain exceptional talent and create a culture of innovation and risk-taking conducive to driving research from basic science to transformational military capability.TalentEnhance Access to Top National and Global Talent_c31e01c2-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.1The Air Force will enhance recruiting to ensure a strong pipeline of top scientific and technical talent. Specific objectives to bolster recruiting include the following:ProgramsStrengthen, streamline, and augment graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, and internship programs for U.S. and allied nation engineers and scientists._c31e0316-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.1.1EngineersScientistsResearchSignificantly expand competition for and engagement of university-based Air Force research through competitive grant awards, including the funding of doctoral students, summer faculty research experiences, and sabbaticals at Air Force laboratories in order to connect the best scientific talent outside of the Air Force to important Air Force problems._c31e0492-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.1.2UniversitiesService PilotsEvaluate service pilots similar to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Open Campus, potentially expanding engagement and formally integrating them into Air Force procedures._c31e05fa-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.1.3U.S. Army Research LaboratoryRecruitmentExpand active recruiting efforts to expand a pipeline of talent from diverse educational backgrounds._c31e0758-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.1.4Take advantage of data analytics to identify the best-in-field.Recruiting & ExchangesLeverage other Service/Agency recruiting initiatives and establish flexibilities to exchange talent with other U.S. government organizations to increase collaboration and the Air Force's technical base._c31e08d4-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.1.5Workforce DevelopmentAdvance Innovative Workforce Development_c31e0a32-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.2"Developing leaders who are competent in national-level decision-making requires broad revision of talent management among the Armed Services, including fellowships, civilian education, and assignments that increase understanding of interagency decision-making processes, as well as alliances and coalitions." – 2018 National Defense Strategy After recruiting top talent, the Air Force must retain it. The Air Force will develop and support highly motivated individuals within an engaging work environment that encourages smart risk-taking and creates exciting, professional development opportunities. Objectives include the following: 3.1.2.1 Implement new incentives, and competition, to encourage appropriate risk-taking and reduce risk aversion. Empower leaders to reward informed risk-accepting behavior, even if the outcome is not always successful. Enhance the ability to share lessons learned across the organization.ExpertiseMaximize flexible workforce authorities that allow pathways to expand expertise, such as sabbaticals with academia, internships and training with industry, and entrepreneurial sabbaticals, creating pilot programs if needed._c31e0b9a-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.2.2Training & DevelopmentIncrease training and developmental assignments across the Air Force and the Department of Defense._c31e0d20-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.2.3AssignmentsEstablish dedicated resources to facilitate assignment opportunities, such as tuition reimbursement, relocation or travel cost reimbursement for rotational assignments away from home stations, and temporary hiring to backfill gaps._c31e0e9c-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.2.4Pilot ProgramImplement a pilot program to embed scientists and engineers in an operational environment that expands their understanding of the warfighter's issues while minimizing the need for special clearances where possible._c31e1004-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.2.5Technology ProficiencyCreate a Strong Pipeline of Technology-Proficient Military Airmen_c31e1202-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.3Military AirmenThe Air Force's history illustrates the importance of technically proficient, visionary military leaders in moving new technologies and technology-driven warfighting concepts into operations. Objectives to foster the development of these leaders include the following:Purposeful ManagementPurposefully manage the military science, technology, engineering, and mathematical sciences career fields._c31e137e-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.3.1Ensure that the technical expertise of military members, like their civilian counterparts, is fully leveraged to drive Air Force science and technology toward transformational Air Force capabilities.External PositionsSupport opportunities for the scientific and technical military workforce to broaden its technical expertise and expand its warfighter perspective to include positions at other Service/Agency scientific and technical organizations._c31e14f0-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.3.2BilletsIdentify a set of General Officer billets across the Air Force that require advanced science, technology, engineering, or mathematics degrees._c31e16bc-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.3.3Promote officers with the right scientific and technical education, training, and experience to fill these important leadership roles.AgilityExercise Granted Authorities to Support Agile Workforce Practices_c31e1842-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.4Congress and the Department of Defense established new authorities to enable agile science and technology workforce practices. However, implementation has been complicated by requirements levied by higher headquarters that may not themselves be affected by these science and technology-specific authorities. To address this, the Air Force will:PoliciesEliminate policies that minimize or delay adopting granted authorities or suppress the intention of the special authority at all levels within the Air Force._c31e19be-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.4.1Human Capital ProceduresEstablish new human capital procedures to implement granted authorities specific to the science and technology enterprise._c31e1b76-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.4.2Exercise flexible hiring to include term and temporary appointments, temporary promotions, contracted employees, student programs, partnership intermediary agreements, and other applicable authorities.Hiring & ManagementEmbrace the various methods available to hire into and manage the scientific and technical enterprise._c31e1cf2-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.1.4.3Using these authorities must become routine and not require significant leadership oversight to ensure they happen. Approval authority will be pushed down to the lowest appropriate level of leadership.PartnershipsDrive Innovation Through Partnerships_c31e1e6e-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2"The Department’s technological advantage depends on a healthy and secure national security innovation base that includes both traditional and non-traditional defense partners." – 2018 National Defense Strategy The Air Force will look widely for the best scientific and technical talent and research as innovation arises from new perspectives. The Air Force will harvest new perspectives by placing personnel in hotspot locations as well as making it easy for new talent and research to find Air Force partners. Partnerships will expand and strengthen to draw technology out of government, university, and industry laboratories and mature it into transformational operational capabilities. In particular, this includes better leveraging promising basic research discoveries by forming deeper university partnerships in applied research to move these innovations further toward transformational Air Force impact.Scientific PresenceExpand the Air Force's Scientific Presence_c31e2026-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.1More Air Force-relevant research is happening in the private sector beyond the Air Force’s current locations and often far from our bases. To be more active and engaged where this research occurs, the Air Force will:Professors & FacultyEstablish visiting professor or research faculty positions for Air Force researchers in research universities._c31e233c-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.1.1 Research UniversitiesOpen CampusLeverage and expand upon the Army Research Laboratory's Open Campus concept, enabling Air Force scientists and engineers to meet and work side-by-side with visiting scientists in collaborative facilities._c31e24c2-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.1.2Army Research LaboratoryVisibilityCreate a More Visible Air Force Science and Technology Enterprise Front Door_c31ebf9a-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.2Many potential partners who want to interact with the Air Force have difficulty in navigating its structure. The Air Force will relieve this burden by creating a convenient virtual "front door" to rapidly connect with Air Force experts and opportunities. We will:ConnectionsProvide a service to connect industry, individuals, universities, and government research centers with experts inside the Air Force science and technology enterprise._c31ec1c0-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.2.1Encourage deeper dialogue between the Air Force science and technology enterprise and new connections to identify novel partnerships and potential opportunities for innovation.Mechanisms & ProcessesCreate, manage, review, and update partnership mechanisms and processes focused on efficiency._c31ec3be-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.2.2IdeasIncrease idea solicitation from all sources by regularly enabling outreach activities to help build expertise and streamline the idea solicitation process_c31ec5ee-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.2.3TransitionsCultivate Partnerships and Increase Technology Transition Opportunities_c31ec7e2-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3The Air Force will also increase focus on and strengthen relationships with other government laboratories, universities, industry, and allies. The driving pace of technology and competition for leading-edge talent demands the Air Force leverage partnerships to ensure agile pursuit of the most impactful research. Integrating efforts across the research spectrum from basic, to applied, to vanguard programs will help drive technology transitions and transformational capabilities. The Air Force will strengthen partnerships to increase technology transition through the following:Centers of ExcellenceExpand constructs such as the Centers of Excellence to capitalize on basic research successes and provide opportunities for deeper university engagement at the applied research level where the Air Force can gain technological advantage._c31ec9cc-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3.1ContractingExpand nontraditional contracting to access and leverage commercially-driven innovation in private sector companies relevant to the Air Force mission._c31ecc06-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3.2ConnectionsEstablish a stronger connection between the Air Force basic research program, executed by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Air Force Research Laboratory technology directorates._c31ece04-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3.3Air Force Office of Scientific ResearchAir Force Research LaboratorySponsored ResearchMaintain a high percentage of research sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research at universities in order to connect the Air Force to the broader scientific community and ensure access to the most competitive research laboratories._c31ecff8-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3.4Air Force Office of Scientific ResearchUniversitiesResearch LaboratoriesLeverage & SynergiesIdentify and support opportunities for multi-Service or multi-Agency funded research initiatives to create new synergies and leverage resources and technical talent._c31ed246-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3.5Technical NetworkIdentify and support opportunities for the scientific and technical civilian and military workforce to expand its technical network and research partnerships through temporary assignments at other scientific and technical organizations._c31ed444-651e-11e9-9800-a706e0aab1653.2.3.6Scientific WorkforceTechnical Workforce2019-04-22https://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/2019%20SAF%20story%20attachments/Air%20Force%20Science%20and%20Technology%20Strategy.pdfOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net