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The 60-year-old RAND Corporation ranks as the country's oldest, non-profit, non-partisan research organization on public policy issues. Topics RAND has covered in corporate-, and publicly-funded surveys and studies range from healthcare to national defense to information technology (IT).  Among RAND alumni are 24 Nobel Laureates, including the former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Today, RAND has revenues of about $200 million and 1,500 researchers.

Over the past 60 years, RAND has evolved from technology pioneer to leader in groundbreaking studies in IT, especially in the areas of security and privacy. When Jim Thomson joined RAND in 1981, researchers were exchanging electronic mail via a text editor written at RAND.  Thomson says, "For many years, we had to develop technology capabilities to support our vision. But we changed our minds when we became one of the first users of  Sun Microsystems's SPARC workstations.  Now we could depend on off-the-shelf systems and applications."

On behalf of the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security, RAND has been working on one of the first national surveys to measure the impact of cybercrime on American businesses. The survey's respondents will include thousands of businesses in 37 different sectors of the economy. While the results of the survey won't be available until mid-2007, Thomson says, "There's a lot of trend data around about security, but it isn't based on a national survey.  What we're doing will become a benchmark for an understanding about security in this country."

Meanwhile, RAND researchers have developed a Vulnerability Assessment and Mitigation Methodology to help corporations analyze their security issues. Thomson says, "We can sort through threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences, and then determine the consequences. Regulatory compliance issues, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, have become the catalyst for corporations to do this type of security analysis."

Each year, RAND's Research and Development database tracks federal funding for research and development in areas such as information technology. Developed with the cooperation of the National Science Foundation, the data base helps RAND to highlight the key challenges the federal government faces in the years ahead to promote IT innovations. Thomson says, "Areas of concern include how can a business protect the identity of its customers who use the Web; and what are the appropriate protections for using digital records in civil litigation and criminal matters."

Resources

RAND Corporation

Bio

James Thomson has been RAND president and chief executive officer since August 1989. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution that seeks to improve public policy through research and analysis. With annual revenues of over $200 million and a staff of 1500, RAND's research programs address a broad range of domestic, international, and national security issues.

A member of the RAND staff since 1981, Dr. Thomson has served the institution in a variety of roles, including that of director of RAND's research programs in national security, foreign policy, defense policy, and arms control; vice president in charge of the Project AIR FORCE division; and executive vice president. Dr. Thomson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York; the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London; and the board of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. He is a director of AK Steel Corporation, Encysive Pharmaceuticals, and Object Reservoir.

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Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
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Scott Ebner, Web Developer