Bridging Gaps in the Development of CBRN Defense Technologies Through Multi-Sectorial Collaboration–A Call for Action

The past decade brought about a dramatic change in the global Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) risk with a reduction of the threat of war and an increase in risk of terrorism. These changes have a considerable influence on the development of CBRN defense technologies: from highly predictable scenarios with relatively good risk assessment and intelligence capabilities, to a wide variety of scenarios with limited predictive capabilities in the case of terrorism. First responders are challenged to deal with multilateral issues, which are more complex than ever before. As long as the threat was state-posed and in a war context, CBRN technologies were developed in light of defense authorities’ demands. Nowadays, with the diminishing wartime threat, the market is left “unsupervised.” Manufacturers and developers are adopting their technologies with limited to no feedback and support of the end-users. In turn, this leads to suboptimal technological results from the operational point-of-view. This paper calls for a multi-sectorial, joint venture between academia, industry, government and first responders. Such collaboration should seek a non-competitive, financially stable environment to bridge gaps in the development of defense technologies that are adapted to the rapidly changing threats. Examples and discussion will be provided.