Marjory S. Blumenthal

@MarjorySB on Twitter

Adjunct Policy Researcher

Off Site Office

Education

M.P.P., Harvard University; A.B. in population studies, Brown University

One Page Bio

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Marjory Blumenthal (she/her) is a senior adjunct policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She joined RAND as director of the experimental Science, Technology, and Policy program in spring 2016, with a broad remit including science and technology trends, societal impacts, and policy. Her work at RAND has addressed such topics as automated vehicles, measuring the impact of research, technology governance, regulatory policy, technological surprise and national/homeland security, citizen science, and trends and impacts of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, 5G, quantum, deepfakes, IOT, and more.

As founding executive director of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) at the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, she addressed the full range of information technologies and their impacts and is recognized for her work on the evolution of the internet and cybersecurity. In 2003, she took a leadership position at Georgetown University, developing academic strategy, promoting innovation, and fostering research; her personal research addressed cybersecurity in the context of the cloud. In 2013–2016, Blumenthal was executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, addressing research targeting and support, cybersecurity, big data, and privacy, IT in health, technology and the future of cities, biosecurity, and many other issues.

Blumenthal is principal author and/or coauthor of numerous books and articles and serves on various boards and advisory bodies. She now applies her expertise in a variety of nonprofit, research- and policy-oriented affiliations.

Research Focus

Concurrent Non-RAND Positions

Senior Policy Fellow, American Library Association; Senior Fellow, Future of Privacy Foundation; External Fellow, International Computer Science Institute; Visiting Fellow, Cornell Tech

Selected Publications

Blumenthal, Marjory S., Laura Fraade-Blanar, Ryan Best, and J. Luke Irwin, Safe Enough: Approaches to Assessing Acceptable Safety for Automated Vehicles, RAND Corporation (RR-A569-1), 2020

Fraade-Blanar, Laura, Marjory S. Blumenthal, James M. Anderson, and Nidhi Kalra, Measuring Automated Vehicle Safety: Forging a Framework, RAND Corporation (RR-2662), 2018

Weinbaum, Cortney, Eric Landree, Marjory S. Blumenthal, Tepring Piquado, and Carlos Ignacio Gutierrez Gaviria, Ethics in Scientific Research: An Examination of Ethical Principles and Emerging Topics, RAND Corporation (RR-2912-IARPA), 2019

Popper, Steven W., Marjory S. Blumenthal, Eugeniu Han, Sale Lilly, Lyle J. Morris, Caroline S. Wagner, Christopher A. Eusebi, Brian G. Carlson, and Alice Shih, China's Propensity for Innovation in the 21st Century: Identifying Indicators of Future Outcomes, RAND Corporation (RR-A208-1), 2020

Blumenthal, Marjory S., Jirka Taylor, Erin N. Leidy, Brent Anderson, Diana Gehlhaus, John Bordeaux, and Michael G. Shanley, Research-Portfolio Performance Metrics: Rapid Review, RAND Corporation (RR-2370-OSD), 2019

Chari, Ramya, Marjory S. Blumenthal, and Luke J. Matthews, Community Citizen Science: From Promise to Action, RAND Corporation (RR-2763-RC), 2019

Chari, Ramya, Luke J. Matthews, Marjory S. Blumenthal, Amanda F. Edelman, and Therese Marie Jones, The Promise of Community Citizen Science, RAND Corporation (PE-256), 2017

Blumenthal, Marjory S., Alison K. Hottes, Christy Foran, and Mary Lee, Technological Approaches to Human Performance Enhancement, RAND Corporation (RR-A1482-2), 2021

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: KJZZ-FM Online; Shift; SmartDrivingCar

Commentary

Autonomous Vehicles

If You Build Automated Vehicles, Will Older Adults Come?
Whether older adults benefit from autonomous vehicles may hinge on taking explicit steps. Lessons can be learned from experiences with other technologies.
Apr 28, 2021
Inside Sources
Artificial Intelligence

Military Deception: AI's Killer App?
Contrary to the promise that AI would deliver an omniscient view of everything happening in the battlespace—the goal of U.S. military planners for decades—it now appears that technologies of misdirection are winning. Military deception, in short, could prove to be AI’s killer app.
Oct 23, 2019
War on the Rocks
Autonomous Vehicles

Why AV Safety and Cybersecurity Need to Be Pursued in Tandem
Safety and cybersecurity are generally pursued by separate teams within autonomous vehicle companies. A joint approach to standards could optimize safety and cybersecurity and reduce overall risks to autonomous vehicle operation.
Mar 20, 2019
Axios
Transportation Safety

The New AV Challenge: Creating a Universal Safety Framework
Autonomous vehicle developers are pursuing different safety strategies and technologies, making different claims, in different ways, about their systems. A universal framework could provide a more consistent and transparent view of progress in AV safety within and across the industry, better informing the public and policymakers.
Nov 2, 2018
Axios
Artificial Intelligence

AI's Promise and Risks
Artificial intelligence seems to be advancing faster than efforts to understand its potential consequences, good and bad. And discussions about AI often veer toward extremes. More balanced, rigorous analysis is needed to help shape policies that mitigate AI's risks and maximize its benefits.
Oct 24, 2017
TechCrunch
Global Climate Change

When It Comes to Climate, Look for Vulnerabilities in Policy, Not Science
Federal policymakers have picked up on the concept of red teaming — actively seeking out one's own vulnerabilities. While red teaming may not make sense for climate science, it does offer great benefits when weighing climate policy options.
Aug 4, 2017
The Hill

Publications

Report
International Basic Research Collaboration at the U.S. Department of Defense: An Overview
RAND National Defense Research Institute researchers studied how the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) approaches international basic research collaboration (IBRC) and formulated suggestions for DoD to improve how it uses IBRC.
Jan 23, 2023
Report
Technological Approaches to Human Performance Enhancement
This report provides an examination of three possible modalities for generating human performance enhancement: genetic modifications, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Bodies approaches (implanted or worn devices are connected to a network).
Nov 23, 2021
Journal Article
The Role of Mobility Data Hubs in an Integrated Decarbonized Transportation Future
This paper identifies key players and data architectures emerging in a service-based mobility market, explores use cases where data hubs have enabled greater outcomes, and discusses key issues that need to be resolved to leverage emerging hubs towards a sustainable future.
Nov 5, 2021
Report
A Structured Elicitation Approach to Identify Technology-Based Challenges: With Application to Inform Force Planning for Technological Surprise
What do experts envision as the largest technology-based challenges the U.S. Joint Force may encounter by 2040? The authors develop and implement an approach to elicit and evaluate 20 challenges identified by experts.
Oct 14, 2021
Journal Article
The Societal Benefits of Vehicle Connectivity
This scenario analysis suggests that actions focused on enhancing equity in any push towards vehicle connectivity represent a low-regrets option for public, private, and civil society actors.
Apr 1, 2021
Journal Article
Older Adults, New Mobility, and Automated Vehicles
New technologies for mobility could improve access for older Americans or pass them by. Research and action are needed to promote benefits for older and other Americans.
Feb 18, 2021
Report
Measuring the Value of Invention: The Impact of Lemelson-MIT Prize Winners' Inventions
This report uses the inventions of Lemelson-MIT Prize winners as examples to illustrate the scientific, technological, economic, and social impacts that inventions can have on society.
Feb 11, 2021
Report
China's Propensity for Innovation in the 21st Century: Identifying Indicators of Future Outcomes
In this report, the authors describe what information would be needed to better understand China's innovation trajectory in the coming decades. They examine the propensity in China's innovation system to realize its potential as an innovating nation.
Dec 3, 2020
Report
Safe Enough: Approaches to Assessing Acceptable Safety for Automated Vehicles
RAND researchers analyzed three approaches to assessing the safety of automated vehicles (AVs)—measurements, processes, and thresholds—and how they interact. Researchers also explored the elements of effective communications regarding AV safety.
Oct 29, 2020
Research Brief
Evolving the Practice of Evaluating Research-Portfolios
Researchers appraised metrics that medical research entities use to evaluate research portfolios. The work can help organizations select, develop, and revise metrics for their portfolios. This brief summarizes the findings and recommendations.
Nov 12, 2019
Report
Research-Portfolio Performance Metrics: Rapid Review
Researchers reviewed metrics for evaluating research portfolios used by medical research organizations and appraised their characteristics. Organizations can use their results to help select, develop, and revise metrics for research portfolios.
Nov 12, 2019
Report
Exploring Media Literacy Education as a Tool for Mitigating Truth Decay
The authors examine the ways in which media literacy education can be used to counter Truth Decay -- the diminishing role that facts, data, and analysis play in political and civil discourse -- by changing how people consume, create, and share information.
Jul 11, 2019
Report
Community Citizen Science: From Promise to Action
In community citizen science, laypeople control research, working with professional scientists and performing research on their own. This report describes its potential uses, implementation needs and challenges, and ways to effect change.
Jun 18, 2019
Report
Ethics in Scientific Research: An Examination of Ethical Principles and Emerging Topics
Scientific research ethics vary by discipline and by country, and this analysis sought to understand those variations. The authors reviewed literature and conducted interviews to examine how ethics are created, monitored, and enforced.
Jun 5, 2019
Report
The Potential Economic Value of Unlicensed Spectrum in the 5.9 GHz Frequency Band: Insights for Future Spectrum Allocation Policy
WiFi plays an indispensable role in generating economic prosperity and opportunity. This report helps quantify WiFi's value by estimating the potential economic value of opening the 5.9 GHz frequency band for WiFi use.
Nov 28, 2018
Report
Measuring Automated Vehicle Safety: Forging a Framework
This report presents a framework for measuring safety in automated vehicles (AVs): how to define safety for AVs, how to measure safety for AVs, and how to communicate what is learned or understood about AVs.
Oct 11, 2018
Report
The Promise of Community Citizen Science
This Perspective examines the transformative potential of community citizen science for communities, science, and decisionmaking.
Sep 27, 2017
Report
Inching Toward Reform: Trump's Deregulation and Its Implementation
This Perspective considers how well Executive Order 13771 addresses concerns of supporters of regulatory reform and how agencies and the Office of Management and Budget can best face the challenges and opportunities of implementing regulatory reform.
May 18, 2017