Space Security Initiative (SSI) held its first practicum workshop, detailing the format and templates for the space-related policy briefs that will be published and presented to policy audiences under the general heading of Space Policy of Major Powers.
SSI has seven Junior Fellows, recruited from the Jackson School Ph.D. Program as area experts in China, Japan, India, Russia, Israel, South Korea, Europe, and the United States. Each of the fellows will be focusing on written and oral dissemination in line with the objectives of the SSI.
The Junior Fellows provided briefings on the general political and policy contexts in their areas of expertise, necessary to framing and understanding space policy developments and trajectories. They detailed some aspect of civilian, commercial, or military space that will serve as the backbone of their dissemination activities in SSI.
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Pekkanen, who directs SSI, also laid out the practical connection of SSI to other bridge-the-gap initiatives in the Jackson School. The aim of SSI is consistent with the core mission of The Bridge Lab in the Jackson School Ph.D. Program, namely to train academics while still in a doctoral program to convert their expertise for dissemination to a wider audience.
The Bridge Lab is a vital part of the training provided to Jackson School doctoral students, and has been an integral part of the doctoral curriculum from its inauguration in academic year 2013-2014. The Bridge Lab focuses on developing professional skills in policy briefing, op-ed writing, media commentary, and more. In our increasingly interconnected world, the training and discourse the Bridge Lab provides is important if the younger generation in the academic community is to properly parlay its expertise into solving contemporary “real-world” problems.
Dr. Pekkanen pointed out that The Bridge Lab is a natural link to the objectives of the IPI, and the funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York is complementing and reinforcing the training and dissemination of such academic expertise at a very critical stage in doctoral training.
Through the IPI and under the auspices of The Bridge Lab, the Junior Fellows in SSI will engage in scheduled workshops, networking events, and conferences that will allow them to present and improve their policy-relevant academic research in dialogue with public, private, and military stakeholders.
