“Protecting Knowledge in a Globalized World: Balancing National Security and Openness”

‘Knowledge is the beating heart of our society,’ says minister Robbert Dijkgraaf. It is a heart that we must protect, but not suffocate. But protecting knowledge in practice turns out to be more difficult than expected. After all, what knowledge exactly poses a threat to national security?

Is it only about the dissemination of technology with which you can make weapons of mass destruction? Or is it also about our ‘crown jewels’: knowledge that is crucial for the Dutch high-tech industry? While the tension in the world is rising, the list of sensitive fields is getting longer… Should universities stick to their ideal of open knowledge sharing?