MITRE announces cooperative agreement with Australian Strategic Policy Institute

The MITRE Corporation, co-located in McLean, VA and Bedford, MA, and the Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) announced on April 25 their agreement to cooperate for the advancement of shared Australian and U.S. interests. Both are not-for-profit entities that work in the public interest by addressing complex, national-level challenges for government.

ASPI and MITRE share common values and provide independent, objective analysis – free of commercial interest – to advise and aid governmental activities. Cooperation will allow both organizations to jointly apply highly complementary capabilities in the areas of: research and strategic assessments, systems engineering and integration, and subject matter expertise across a broad range of scientific and technological disciplines.

MITRE operates seven, federally-funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) that provide innovative, practical solutions for some of the world’s most critical challenges in defense and intelligence, aviation, civil systems, homeland security, judicial systems, healthcare, and cybersecurity.

Jason Bruzdzinski, director for international programs at MITRE’s National Security Engineering Center said, “Australia and the U.S. are close allies with many shared safety, security and defense interests. Cooperation between ASPI and MITRE will help our nations achieve greater capability, capacity and interoperability. MITRE is very proud to align with ASPI and enthusiastic to support the Commonwealth’s national defense and security modernization initiatives.”

The e is an independent think tank established by the Australian Government to offer contestability in policy advice on defense and strategic policy. Over its 15 years of operation, ASPI has established a strong international reputation for high quality research designed to improve the quality of policy and decision making around areas such as defense budgeting and force structure, cyber security, policing and international law enforcement, counter-terrorism and national resilience.

Peter Jennings, executive director of ASPI said, “I am delighted that ASPI and MITRE will be working closely together on a variety of projects designed to strengthen Australian and U.S. cooperation. The defense alliance between our two countries makes a vital contribution to Asia-Pacific security at a time when strategic developments present greater challenges to security.”

In addition to defense and security matters, ASPI-MITRE collaboration will focus upon the cyber challenges confronting Australia and the United States. Dr. Irving Lachow, MITRE’s portfolio manager for international cyber stated, “The partnership between ASPI’s International Cyber Policy Center and MITRE’s hundreds of cyber professionals represents a powerful alignment of policy and technical expertise that is necessary to address the challenges articulated in Australia’s newly released Cyber Security Strategy.”

Dr Tobias Feakin, director of ASPI’s National Security Programs and Head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at ASPI said “We are excited to work with MITRE on some of the most pressing cyber security issues facing both our nations. We see a natural partner in MITRE, and believe the work we carry out together will reap positive rewards at home and enhance cyber maturity internationally.”