Conference and Grantee's Meeting: Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks; Arlington, Virginia; February 4-5, 2019

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a conference that convenes researchers, educators, and representatives from a variety of government sectors to discuss challenges and explore opportunities for collaboration in disrupting illicit supply networks. Networks that illegally traffic in everything from people and drugs to human organs and nuclear material pose significant threats to U.S. health, prosperity and security. Unencumbered by national boundaries, they funnel illicit profits to criminal organizations, and fuel transnational and terrorist organizations. In FY2018, the National Science Foundation issued a Dear Colleague Letter (NSF 18-059) that solicited proposals for innovative, convergent approaches to understanding and mitigating the effects of illicit supply networks. Nine new EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) awards were made, representing 29 investigators from diverse fields, including operations research, the social sciences, computer science and materials science focused on advancing the scientific understanding of how such illicit supply networks function and how to disrupt them. This conference brings together these and other interested researchers, along with NSF program directors and representatives from many different governmental agencies and federally-sponsored Centers of Excellence, to nurture this emerging research community. The conference will bring together domain experts and quantitative researchers to explore new analytical approaches and engineering methods to disrupt and disable illicit supply networks. Day 1 of the conference includes keynotes and grantee lightening talks, as well as concurrent sessions on specific illicit supply network domains (human/organ/arms trafficking; narcotics/drugs/counterfeit products trafficking, financial fraud). Day 2 of the conference will include a keynote speaker, facilitated breakout sessions and discussion on topics related to this research area. These discussions will include representatives from a host of other government agencies whose missions involve various aspects of interdicting illicit supply networks but in the US and internationally. The conference also provides opportunities for student involvement. It will provide a unique forum to commune a variety of stakeholders to encourage research on this important societal topic. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.