Jacqueline Littlewood

Jacqueline Littlewood is the Director of Research Security at the University of Alberta. In this role, she is leading efforts to operationalize the institution’s safeguarding research approach. Jacqueline heads up the new Safeguarding Research Office, which is focused on ensuring researchers and staff have the support required to successfully navigate research security requirements applicable to funding applications at both the federal and provincial levels. Jacqueline came to the U of A in August 2023 after more than 20 years as a public servant with the Government of Canada, primarily with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Jacqueline completed a Master of Arts in International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Calgary. Prior to joining the public service, she worked as a researcher with the Bonn International Centre for Conversion, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and the United Nations in Geneva on issues of sanctions, norms and ethical codes, proliferation and disarmament.

Reporting to the Associate Vice President Research Integrity Support within the Office of the Vice President Research and Innovation at the U of A, Jacqueline is responsible for translating complex research security considerations and requirements into actionable steps to protect research and researchers and ensure full compliance with government requirements. The Safeguarding Research Office aims to promote greater understanding of Canada’s national security context and research security requirements specifically in Alberta.

About the keynote: 

Common Interests & Opportunities for Collaboration – Research Security & Research Ethics

One of the ways in which the landscape of research ethics is changing today is the increasing integration of research security and research ethics into a broader conception of research integrity. As institutions across Canada and beyond implement new programs to address threats to research security, the intent of this presentation is to lay the groundwork for an ongoing dialogue about the intersections and touchpoints between research security and research ethics within this broad concept of research integrity.

In approaching the integration of research security into academic culture and practice there is much to be learned from the research ethics experience. Understanding commonalities and differences between the two will assist research security practitioners in applying research ethics models and best practices. Mutual understanding between the disciplines will also shed light on synergies and opportunities to advance shared research integrity objectives. Further, as we tackle ethical challenges posed by rapid technological development, what collaborative steps can be considered to safeguard Canadian research, researchers and citizens?

In order to support enhanced dialogue and identification of common interests and areas for collaboration, this presentation will provide a high-level overview of research security in Canada, including guiding principles, legal requirements, and operational approaches. The second part of the presentation will offer specific examples of issues having both an ethical and security component to illustrate the possibility for collaboration and coordination. These examples will include: the use of dual-use technologies such as artificial intelligence, security threats to personally identifiable or otherwise sensitive information, gene editing advances, genomic surveillance, human rights abuses leveraging technological advances, and integrating cyber considerations into the development of Indigenous data repositories. Efforts to integrate equity, diversity and inclusion considerations in research security approaches and decision-making will also be shared as part of the presentation.