The COVID-19 outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt early in the course of the pandemic turned a spotlight towards U.S. military readiness in the face of this novel coronavirus. In this brief, participants in the Hoover Institution’s National Security Task Force draw on interviews with US military personnel and other reporting to observe how the Department of Defense has been impacted by, reacted to, and learned from this threat. In short, the fight against the virus has been treated as a combat operation.

Participants in the Hoover Institution’s National Security Task Force have undertaken to examine how data science techniques, particularly machine learning, combined with diverse economic and health data streams has potential for informing complex decisions on public health measures to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic and minimize economic disruption. This progress report summarizes what we have learned to date through interviews with data scientists and public health officials, and from published research, on what artificial intelligence can do in this space.

Dramatic changes are afoot. The future will not be like the past.  Demographic changes and migration are having a profound effect as the workforces of some countries age and shrink, while others expand. The Project on Governance in an Emerging New World aims to understand these changes and inform strategies that both address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities afforded by these dramatic transformations.  We will explore the implications for our democracy, our economy, and our national security, and for other countries.