Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said the increasing adoption of Internet of Things-based devices and artificial intelligence could both bring new opportunities for intelligence collection and challenges to the U.S.’ cyber defenses.
Clapper said in his testimony Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee that the field of foreign data science has approached maturity.
He noted that foreign countries have launched efforts to create their own publication indices through social media and patent data collection.
Clapper, an inductee into Executive Mosaic‘s Wash100 for 2016, said the U.S. continues to encounter threats of cyber espionage from countries such as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as well as the Islamic State organization.
“Changes in the space sector will evolve more quickly in the next few years as innovation becomes more ubiquitous, driven primarily by increased availability of technology and growing private company investment,†he noted.
Clapper told the House panel that new private sector companies may work to leverage technological advances in areas such as additive manufacturing and big data analytics in order to enhance access to maritime automatic identification system, imaging and other space-based applications.
He also mentioned the efforts of Russia and China to develop anti-satellite missile systems and counterspace weapon platforms against U.S.-operated space systems.
