The National Academies’ response to the threat of terrorism has been to bring the nation’s great strength in science and technology to bear on protecting the United States.¹ In its June 2002 report, Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism, the National Academies recommended that effective public-private partnerships must occur for the government and private sector to work together on increasing homeland security.² Following on this recommendation, the National Academies’ Committee on Government-Industry Partnerships for the Development of New Technologies, led by Gordon Moore, drew together the findings of its four-year study at its final conference to explore how partnerships can contribute to the nation’s present war on terror. This chapter introduces the main points of that conference. The conference proceedings are summarized in the next chapter.

Partnerships are cooperative relationships involving government, industry, laboratories, and (increasingly) universities organized to encourage innovation and commercialization. Partnerships come in many forms, including industry con-