CRAFT: David Johnson of C4ADS

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies, better known as C4ADS, is a fascinating think tank based in Washington DC, founded in 2002 by Newton Howard, a cognitive scientist.

But don't let the wonky abbreviation put you off. C4ADS is a nonprofit organization engaged in a fight to defeat the illicit networks that threaten global peace and security...that is the North Korean arms traders, the elephant tusk smugglers, and China's fentanyl network.

To do so, c4ADS uses cutting-edge technologies to manage, integrate, and analyze disparate data from diverse languages, regions, and sources, incorporating field research from conflict zones and fragile states.

Read our illuminating interview with David Johnson, executive director of c4ADS and a US Special Forces veteran, to understand how the organization makes information available to both governments and private companies in an effort to forge a more stable world.

Here’s an edited version of our conversation.