
SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY
Maintaining robust and secure supply chains for strategic industry sectors is an integral part of keeping our nation’s security and global competitiveness. Geo-political, climate, and pandemic-related issues present only a few of the challenges related to maintaining what a complex and globally integrated supply chain is. While large, more sophisticated companies can better address access and security, small and medium sized businesses struggle to understand security risks and how to mitigate them – and today’s globally integrated supply chain is only as strong as the “weakest link.”
Ensuring supply chain access and security, device integrity and performance are critical in defense and commercial applications, particularly in technology driven industries and sectors such as Electronics Manufacturing, Information Technology, Pharmaceuticals, Biomanufacturing, Renewable Energy, and Defense. NIIT works to identify risks to the U.S. supply chain and helps to ensure they are eliminated.
With all of the work being undertaken in this area, the NIIT’s efforts are currently focused on areas it believes require more attention and a strategic approach:
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Identifying risks and mitigation strategies through workforce development, an often overlooked and undervalued approach;
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The development and advancement of voluntary commercial security models to enable companies of all sizes mitigate risks and achieve a baseline standard for acceptable security across the supply chain;
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Building the business case for improved security and providing the tools to enable small and medium sized businesses to invest in security based on market demand.
NIIT’s focus on supply chain security is informed and supported by its work in its other two thrust areas, workforce and next-generation communications, as they both significantly impact risk in a supply chain.