Ubiquitous Deep Technologies From National Labs Since their establishment, National Labs have developed new technologies impacting our daily lives, spanning from medicine, computing, transportation, aviation, defense, cybersecurity, and the environment. Some examples of notable deep technologies developed in National Labs are described below. The Global Positioning System (GPS). The GPS was developed as a defense technology to provide navigation, location, and weapon control system capabilities to the U.S. military. Since then, its use has expanded fully into the civilian world, becoming an integral part of daily life. Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This alert-and-warning system is required on all large commercial aircrafts. Developed at Lincoln Lab, TCAS has prevented countless midair collisions for more than 20 years, making it one of the most essential elements of aviation safety worldwide. First Programmable nano-processor. In collaboration with a team from Harvard, MITRE lab engineers and scientists designed the first processor created out of ultra-tiny nanocircuits. They run using low little power, which led them to become the building blocks of small, lightweight electronic sensors and consumer electronics.
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School
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