Technology watch - 2015
Publish date: 2017-02-20
Report number: FOI-R--4378--SE
Pages: 29
Written in: Swedish
Keywords:
- Technology watch
- literature study research front
Abstract
This report aims to provide a comprehensive description of the technology watch projects performed in 2015. Each project conducted a literature survey where the research front for selected areas were studied. The aim with the work was to identify research that may be essential for the armed forces but also to increase the researcher's knowledge and expertise. The project imaging from space presents military use of space-based radar imaging and monitoring of large areas with high resolution images. Technological developments should be followed to assess the performance of other countries' systems, and thereby be able to comment on the threats and opportunities. The project Defence specific inflation study the Armed Forces' unique price and cost model. The Government uses defenses price index (DPI), which consists of the general index, and not defense specific, which tends to lead to insufficient funding. A more practical construction of DPI would affect the financial allocation to the Armed Forces and economic models can be developed. The project Perspective on genomics - science, society and security deals with DNA sequencing and analysis. Through the analysis of genomic and clinical data, we can learn more about the underlying factors for example, tumors, genetic disorders and how we react to different drugs. The rapid development in genomics can have farreaching consequences in society and should be interesting to follow. The project Quantum Informatics studied three areas; quantum computers, information transmission and simulations of physical systems. None of the mentioned areas has reached a broad practical application yet and still need a lot of basic research to determine the potential of the technologies. Quantum Informatics can have a major impact on encryption and the ability to detect eavesdropping or manipulation of data.