About the Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute
The Adm. James R. Hogg Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute (CIPI) is the premier hub for cyber strategy and technology policy research, education, and outreach at the U.S. Naval War College (NWC). CIPI is part of the Strategic and Operational Research Department in the Center for Naval Warfare Studies.
We work with scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in government, academia, and industry, at home and around the world. We provide independent analysis to help senior leaders understand and improve military cyber and defense innovation.
For more about us and our work, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @NWC_CIPI.
Our History
Click to Open CIPI was established in 2018. It was created in recognition of the Navy’s critical need for policy relevant research, education, and engagement on cyberspace and military innovation associated with increasingly networked digital technologies. CIPI expands on the work of its predecessor, the Center for Cyber Conflict Studies at the NWC.
CIPI Research
From cyber operations and artificial intelligence to autonomous weapons and hybrid fleets, cyberspace touches virtually every feature of operational and strategic significance for the U.S. Navy. Given the broad scope of this domain, our research is interdisciplinary: military and civilian, government and commercial, social and technical, open-source and classified, scholarly and policy. We focus our expertise on three lines of effort: cyber wargaming, cyber security organizations & practices, and innovation & future warfare.
Cyber Wargaming
Click to Open For nearly a century, wargaming has helped define the NWC. Today, there are critical gaps across national security communities in how cyber actions are incorporated into war games, integrated with other instruments of national power, and adjudicated by players and judges. These problems aren’t merely artifacts of the games – they directly correspond to key challenges in how cyber actions and effects are understood by senior leaders.
CIPI analyzes and advances best practices in operational and strategic cyber wargaming. In doing so, we explain how cyberspace redefines the strengths and weaknesses of wargaming as a tool for critical inquiry and interactive learning.
Cybersecurity Organizations & Practices
Click to Open The military and civilian organizations that generate and employ cyber force are no longer new. Tenth Fleet and U.S. Cyber Command have operated for more than a decade; civilian computer emergency response teams emerged in the 1980s; plus, partner nations and allies have long histories of offense and defense in this domain as well.
CIPI researches these different organizations across time and space. Our comparative analysis provides valuable insight into command and control as well as alternative options for the future of cyber force for the Navy and Nation.
Innovation & Future Warfare
Click to Open Near term or long, the future of deterrence and warfighting hinge on military technology. There is no magic bullet, however. Innovative technology cannot provide a quick fix to operational or strategic challenges divorced from human factors. Moreover, it is increasingly dangerous to assume that the United States enjoys technological superiority over potential rivals.
CIPI analyzes the military significance of cyber-dependent technologies that range from robots and artificial intelligence to quantum computers. We examine what different futures of science and technology are likely to mean for the U.S. Navy and Joint Force over the next few years and for decades to come.
Reports & Studies
Our research publications help inform the Navy, national security communities, and policy-relevant scholarship on international relations. For example, our publications on wargaming include:
Taiwan Digital Blockade Wargame Report
The Taiwan Digital Blockade Wargame explores ways to improve the resilience of Taiwan’s information and communications technology (ICT) in the event of a conflict with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The project is focused on understanding and improving Taiwan’s ICT security and operations.
Download Game Report Cyber Wargaming: Research and Education for Security in a Dangerous Digital World
Yes, cyberspace is critical for security. Why, when, and how are not always clear, however. Because of this unsettling combination of significance and mystery, the need for good decision-making about cyber—policy, strategy, operations—has never been more acute. This is true for government, industry, academia, and society at large.
Download Cyber Wargaming Defend Forward: Critical Infrastructure War Game 2019
This report summarizes a two-day wargame held in July 2019, where leaders from the finance and energy sectors worked with cyber practitioners to conduct an unclassified wargame. This event explored potential approaches for implementing cyber strategies along with challenges and opportunities moving forward.
Download Game Report Navy-Private Sector Critical Infrastructure War Game 2017
This two-day event took place in July 2017. It was designed to answer several related research questions: when do cyber-attacks reach the level of a national security incident, when should the DoD be involved, and in what capacity? This report summarizes some of the targets considered, potential effects created by cyberattacks, and how the actor responded to these attacks.
Download Game Report For additional work, see our faculty publications.
CIPI Faculty PublicationsCIPI Education
The CIPI Gravely Program is an Advanced Research Program at the NWC. Named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., this graduate-level initiative supports student education through faculty directed research on cyber operations and information environments.
CIPI Gravely ProgramCIPI faculty also teach two elective units, specifically, Cyber Security (EL 660) and Military Innovation (EL 810).
CIPI Summer Workshop Series
Since 2022, the CIPI Summer Workshop has brough together small groups of dedicated academics, practitioners, and government officials for high impact writing and wargaming about information environments and military innovation.
Additional information about this event can be found below.
2025 CIPI Summer Workshop2024 CIPI Summer WorkshopSee Cyber & Innovation Policy Institute Faculty
Our experienced and renowned faculty have extensive expertise across a wide range of naval, professional, and academic focus areas. To learn more about us, please use the link below to access the online directory.
Visit Faculty