On December 8, 2021, NBR will release a Special Report titled Guardians of Intellectual Property in the 21st Century: The Global Supply Chain Industry. The report examines risks to intellectual property (IP) in supply chains and the impact of emerging technology on mitigating these vulnerabilities. It also provides recommendations for improving supply chain security, better protecting IP throughout global supply chains, and leveraging emerging technology to achieve these goals. Given the growing role of AI and blockchain in supply chain management, the report also features special sections on the applications of these technologies.

In this virtual event, Dr. Steven Carnovale, the report’s author, will present his key findings and recommendations. This will be followed by brief remarks from experts on supply chain policy issues and the role of emerging technology in supply chains. The event will conclude with a moderated Q&A with all three participants.

Agenda

2:00 p.m.—Welcome Remarks

• Alison Szalwinski, Vice President of Research, The National Bureau of Asian Research

2:05 p.m.—Report Presentation

• Steven Carnovale, Professor of Supply Chain Management, Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology

2:20 p.m.—Expert Responses

• Maria Jesús Saénz, Director, Digital Supply Chain Transformation Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Bradley Martin, Director, RAND National Security Supply Chain Institute

2:35 p.m.—Moderated Audience Q&A

• Moderator: Alison Szalwinski, Vice President of Research, The National Bureau of Asian Research

3:00 p.m.—Closing Remarks

• Alison Szalwinski, Vice President of Research, The National Bureau of Asian Research

Speaker Bios

Steven Carnovale served as the Principal Investigator for this project and primary author of this report. Dr. Carnovale is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Prior to joining RIT, he served as the Nike Professor of Supply Chain Management at Portland State University. He is a supply chain strategist and econometrician specializing in risk management and global sourcing and production networks. Dr. Carnovale earned his Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from Rutgers University. Prior to his academic work, he co-founded a consulting firm and worked in operations management in the IT sector.

Bradley Martin is the director of the RAND National Security Supply Chain Institute, and a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Martin retired from the Navy as a surface warfare Captain after 30 years of service, including four command tours. In addition to his operational tours, he served on the staff of U.S. Forces Japan, the OPNAV staff as an operations analyst, and most recently as the Navy coordinator for participation in Joint Staff and OSD requirements and resources forums. His subspecialties included operations research, operational logistics, and strategic planning. Prior to joining the Navy, he achieved a doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan, while working as a research assistant for the Correlates of War Project.

Maria Jesus Saenz is Director of the Digital Supply Chain Transformation Lab at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, which researches new collaborative paradigms that arise while implementing emerging digital technologies in supply chains. Dr. Saenz also serves as the Executive Director of the MIT Supply Chain Management Master Programs. She teaches various courses at the Master, PhD, and Executive Education level on digital transformation and supply chain management. Dr. Saenz received a PhD in manufacturing and design engineering, and an M.Sc. in industrial engineering from the University of Zaragoza. She has led supply chain management innovation research projects for the European Commission and companies such as Coca-Cola Femsa, P&G, Carrefour, Clariant, Dell, and DHL. Her work has been cited in MIT Sloan Management Review, Forbes, the Financial Times, Supply Chain Management Review, and more.

Alison Szalwinski is Vice President of Research at NBR. Ms. Szalwinski provides executive leadership to NBR’s policy research agenda and oversees research teams in Seattle and Washington, D.C. She is the author of numerous articles and reports and co-editor of the Strategic Asia series along with Ashley J. Tellis and Michael Wills. Prior to joining NBR, Szalwinski spent time at the U.S. Department of State and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Her research interests include U.S. alliance relationships, U.S.-China relations, and the implications of great-power competition for U.S. alliances in the region. She holds a BA in Foreign Affairs and History from the University of Virginia and an MA in Asian Studies from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.