If markets can be facilitated, they can also be obstructed. The NSF announces some grants aimed at this:
NSF invests in research to help disrupt operations of illicit supply networks
9 early concept awards to detect, disrupt, disable networks that traffic people, weapons, drugs and more
"Networks that illegally traffic in everything from people and opioids to human organs and nuclear material pose threats to U.S. health, prosperity and security. Nine new awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will advance the scientific understanding of how such illicit supply networks function -- and how to dismantle them.
"The new awards support research that combines engineering with computer, physical and social sciences to address a danger that poses significant consequences for national and international security. Nimble and technologically sophisticated networks traffic in contraband that includes people, illegal weapons, drugs, looted antiquities, and exotic animal products. Unencumbered by national boundaries, they funnel illicit profits to criminal organizations, and fuel transnational and terrorist organizations.
"Other federal agencies and organizations have worked on this issue for many years, with involvement of specialized fields in the academic community. The new NSF awards leverage fundamental research, taking an engineering systems-based approach made far more powerful by the integration of other scientific disciplines.
"We've been studying commercial supply chains for years and figuring out how to make them resilient -- now we want to use these same principles to make illicit networks less resilient. We want to break them," said Georgia-Ann Klutke, NSF program director for Operations Engineering in the Directorate for Engineering. "These are systems that operate by the same dynamics and use the same infrastructure components as legal commercial distribution systems. Our goal is to provide fundamental insights into the operations and economics of these networks that other federal agencies and organizations can use to attack this very complex problem."
...
NSF invests in research to help disrupt operations of illicit supply networks
9 early concept awards to detect, disrupt, disable networks that traffic people, weapons, drugs and more
"Networks that illegally traffic in everything from people and opioids to human organs and nuclear material pose threats to U.S. health, prosperity and security. Nine new awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will advance the scientific understanding of how such illicit supply networks function -- and how to dismantle them.
"The new awards support research that combines engineering with computer, physical and social sciences to address a danger that poses significant consequences for national and international security. Nimble and technologically sophisticated networks traffic in contraband that includes people, illegal weapons, drugs, looted antiquities, and exotic animal products. Unencumbered by national boundaries, they funnel illicit profits to criminal organizations, and fuel transnational and terrorist organizations.
"Other federal agencies and organizations have worked on this issue for many years, with involvement of specialized fields in the academic community. The new NSF awards leverage fundamental research, taking an engineering systems-based approach made far more powerful by the integration of other scientific disciplines.
"We've been studying commercial supply chains for years and figuring out how to make them resilient -- now we want to use these same principles to make illicit networks less resilient. We want to break them," said Georgia-Ann Klutke, NSF program director for Operations Engineering in the Directorate for Engineering. "These are systems that operate by the same dynamics and use the same infrastructure components as legal commercial distribution systems. Our goal is to provide fundamental insights into the operations and economics of these networks that other federal agencies and organizations can use to attack this very complex problem."
...
Below are the nine new projects being funded, along with the principal investigators and awardee organizations.
- Disrupting exploitation and trafficking labor supply networks in post-Harvey rebuild: an evidence-based multi-agent stochastic decision-making framework, Matt Kammer-Kerwick, University of Texas, Austin
- Network analysis and optimal interventions for disruption of organ trafficking, Naoru Koizumi, George Mason University
- A data analytic approach to understanding human trafficking networks, Renata Konrad, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Unraveling illicit supply chains for falsified pharmaceuticals with a citizen science approach, Marya Lieberman, University of Notre Dame
- Anticipatory interdiction in narco-trafficking networks, Nicholas Magliocca, University of Alabama
- Modeling operations of human trafficking networks for effective interdiction, Lauren Martin, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- Detecting and disrupting illicit supply networks via traffic distribution systems, Nick Nikiforakis, Stony Brook University
- A new multi-layered network approach for improving the detection of human trafficking, Louise Shelley, George Mason University
- Advanced analytics, intelligence and processes for disrupting operations of illicit supply networks, Steven Simske, Colorado State University
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