Advanced Computing & Emerging Technologies
Delivering Engagement Advantage through Threat-Informed Systems Thinking
Today's national security challenges require the ability to anticipate threats, integrate diverse capabilities, and rapidly translate research into operational advantage. The Advanced Computing & Emerging Technology (ACET) division helps government organizations address these challenges through interdisciplinary research grounded in threat-informed systems thinking. By bringing together expertise across advanced computing, engineering, analytics, and emerging technologies, ACET develops trusted capabilities that strengthen mission readiness, improve resilience, and enable informed decision-making. Through close collaboration with government, industry, and academia, ACET helps the United States maintain a strategic engagement advantage in an increasingly contested world.
Capabilities
Integrating mission objectives, technology, and risk to develop actionable solutions for complex national security challenges.
Evaluating emerging technologies, operational risks, and strategic tradeoffs to support informed investment and mission decisions.
Developing trusted analytic and AI-enabled capabilities that improve situational awareness, operational effectiveness, and decision quality.
Providing objective assessments of technologies, architectures, and modernization efforts to reduce risk and accelerate capability transition.
Applying interdisciplinary approaches to strengthen technology security, organizational resilience, and mission assurance across the defense enterprise.
Mission Areas
Acquisition & Industrial Security (A&IS)
The A&IS mission area helps government organizations strengthen the resilience and security of the Nation's technology and industrial ecosystem. Through threat-informed systems thinking, A&IS integrates engineering, analytics, intelligence, and risk assessment to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities across supply chains, critical technologies, acquisition programs, and the defense industrial base. The result is actionable insight that enables informed decisions, protects strategic capabilities, and strengthens mission readiness.
Counterintelligence for Strategic Competition
The Counterintelligence for Strategic Competition mission area helps government organizations strengthen the security and resilience of the people, organizations, and missions that underpin U.S. national security. Through threat-informed systems thinking, this mission area integrates intelligence, analytics, engineering, and behavioral science to identify and mitigate insider risks, foreign influence, and emerging counterintelligence threats. The result is trusted insight that enhances personnel security, informs risk-based decisions, and strengthens mission readiness across the defense and intelligence enterprise.
Technology Modernization and Adaptive Resilience
The Technology Modernization and Adaptive Resilience mission area helps government organizations modernize critical capabilities while strengthening resilience in an evolving threat environment. Through threat-informed systems thinking, this mission area integrates systems engineering, advanced analytics, and interdisciplinary research to identify modernization risks, evaluate technology tradeoffs, and develop practical approaches that accelerate capability delivery. The result is informed decision-making, resilient technology adoption, and sustained mission readiness.