STCU Vision Statement:

To advance global peace and prosperity through cooperative Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) risk mitigation by supporting civilian science and technology partnerships and collaboration that address global security threats and advance non-proliferation.

STCU Mission:

• To address the global security threat of the proliferation of WMD-applicable chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) knowledge and materials;
• To support the integration of scientists with WMD applicable knowledge into global scientific and economic communities through national, regional, and international research collaboration;
• To develop and sustain a culture of nonproliferation and CBRN security awareness and responsibility through education, mentorship, and training;
• To promote international best practices and security culture to mitigate CBRN security threats.

Near-Term Strategy

In the next five to seven years, it is crucial to the above mission that the STCU invigorate its sustainability and partnership functions, while continuing to maintain its other programs and functions. Rather than simply continuing to oversee projects that do not contribute to the long-term self-sufficiency of ex-Soviet weapon scientists or institutes, the STCU has to take the lead in helping those scientists and institutes stand on their own by guiding them towards successful integration into the global economic and business communities. The goal is for STCU grant recipients to become self-supporting and to make high-value contributions to domestic and global science and technology issues (both commercial and non-commercial). They must be weaned from dependency on the donor Parties’ STCU project funding and be given the skills, experience, and reputation to compete and contribute on their own in the international science, academic, and commercial worlds.

For the most part, this means preparing and guiding the recipient scientists and technicians to make the most out of their research, whether it results in commercially viable products, or continuing research funding interest outside the STCU. They must develop long-term relationships with private sector and/or governmental partners. Most of all they must become expert with regard to all the requirements of sustained, supported scientific research and technology development in their countries, their regions, and internationally - from being able to write competitive project proposals to knowing how to protect and exploit the intellectual property rights these projects may spin off.

This will require a set of strategic objectives that reflect the new focus on redirection to self-sustaining civilian employment. It will also require a review and reform of existing STCU activities as well as a well-thought-out distribution of portfolios within the executive staff and across the organization.

The following strategic objectives define the direction of the STCU in the next five to seven years:

• Create and implement new programs and activities (or overhaul existing programs and activities) to more effectively assist former weapon scientists and institutes in developing their skills and capabilities to support themselves without direct STCU assistance.
  • Training programs that build competencies in program management, market analysis and business planning, intellectual property protection and exploitation, strategic planning at the institute level, and competing effectively for research grants.
  • Patent and licensing support of intellectual property, including guidance and financial assistance for patent applications.
  • Focused programmatic approaches to improve the scientific excellence of recipient institutes or groups of scientists.
  • Leveraging other S&T cooperative assistance activities where STCU recipient scientists can participate or compete, such as World Bank programs, UN economic or industrial development programs, and bilateral/multilateral scientific governmental or private foundation programs.
• Increase the amount of private sector funding and improve the cooperative depth of private sector projects (i.e., projects that more substantively fulfill actual customer needs and do less concept exploration) to encourage long-term partnerships and sustainability for former weapon scientists and institutes.
  • Develop a systemic approach to targeted matchmaking for promising scientific teams and institutes matching core competencies of recipients to commercial and non-commercial customer requirements in order to facilitate partnerships.
  • Design a strategy that includes annual plans for substantial and effective participation in a wide variety of economic, business, and S&T forums to showcase STCU recipient core competencies and capabilities, build contacts and opportunities for attracting partners, and gain applicable "salesmanship" experience for the recipients.
  • Assist recipient scientists and institutes in identifying current and near term technology priorities of private sector entities and markets, both commercial and non-commercial, and guide them in developing projects whose results meet those priorities.
• Increase the level of active participation and funding from recipient governments for S&T projects and initiatives through the STCU so that recipient governments will take advantage of the STCU and become more equal partners with the donor Parties in the STCU.
  • Work with the science, industry, economic, and educational ministries, and academies to identify areas of national S&T priority where governmental funds should be committed.
  • Work with those governmental agencies to design groups of STCU projects for project competitions to address those national priority areas to be financed by a combination of donor Party funding, recipient government funding, and possibly other funding sources.