Innovation Challenges inHomeland Security
Security Innovation NetworkInnovation Summit 2012August 8, 2012
Tara O’Toole, M.D., M.P.H.Under Secretary for Science and TechnologyU.S. Department of Homeland Security
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Homeland Security missions: cover broad scope of problems and operations, complex, dynamic
Value Proposition of DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)
How do we build national innovation ecosystem? Possible directions for government, academia, and private sector
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Key Points
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Department of Homeland Security
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Thinking Enemies:Evolution of Terrorist Attacks in Aviation
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Time Event/Threat Vulnerability Response
1970s Hostage/Hijacking Guns, weapons Magnetometers
1988 Pan Am 103, Lockerbie Bomb in baggage Baggage scans
Sept. 2001 WTC, PA, Pentagon Box cutters, etc TSA
Dec. 2001 Richard Reid Shoe bomb Shoes removed
2004 Chechen suicide attacks Vests Pat downs, backscatter
2006 Heathrow liquids plot Novel liquid bomb Liquids ban
2009 Non-metallic body bomb Body bomb in sensitive area ETD, WBI, pat down
2010 Printer cartridge bombs Explosives packed in cargo
Trace detection for cargo
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
U.S. Airline Flight Density
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Source: Koblin
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Worldwide Land and Sea Shipping Density
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Sources: Uchida, Nelson
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Visualization of the Internet
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Deliberate biological attacks – human or agriculture targets
Natural pandemic – influenza or emerging disease
Improvised nuclear device – scale varies
Big earthquake, hurricane
Cyberattack(s) on critical infrastructure
Complex technological accidents
WMD and other Catastrophes
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
“In complex industrial, space, and military systems,the normal accident generally (not always)
means that the interactions are not only unexpected,but are incomprehensible for some critical period of time.”
–Charles Perrow, Normal Accidents, 1984
Complex Systems Fail Complexly
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003Sources: Reuters, Wikimedia Commons
Deepwater Horizon
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Magnitude 9.0
Sources: AP, Reuters
Three Near-Simultaneous Disasters
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DHS S&T MissionStrengthen America’s security and resiliency by providing
knowledge products and innovative technology solutions
for the Homeland Security Enterprise
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
S&T Value Proposition
S&T’s contributions to the Homeland Security Enterprise will come from: Creation, of new technological capabilities and process enhancements Cost savings due to technological innovation and analytics Leveraging scientific and engineering expertise to achieve improvements in
operational analysis, project management and acquisition management Progressively deeper, broader understanding of homeland security
technology priorities and capability gaps
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Goal 1: Transition to Use
Provide knowledge, technologies, and science-based solutions that are integrated into homeland security operations, employing 24-36 month innovation cycles from project inception through operational testing
Strengthen relationships with DHS components to better understand and address their high-priority requirements
Become “best-in-class” at technology foraging – find and use what’s out there; encourage and enable multidisciplinary teams
Focus on rigorous project selection and regular review of the entire R&D portfolio
Implement processes that strengthen project management, evaluation, and accountability within the Directorate
Rapidly develop and deliver knowledge, analyses, and innovative solutions that advance the mission of the Department
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Innovation as Goal
“The greatest change of all is probably that in the last 40 years purposeful innovation—both technical and social—has itself become
an organized discipline that is both teachable and learnable.”
“[E]very organization will have to learn to innovate—and innovation can now be organized and must be organized—as a systematic
process.”
“On the one hand, this means every organization has to prepare for the abandonment of everything it does. […] On the other hand, every
organization must devote itself to creating the new.”
–Peter Drucker, The New Society of Organizations, 1992
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Where Innovation Comes From
“In the cases I have studied, again and again I am struck that innovation emerges when people are faced by problems—
particular, well-specified problems.
“It arises as solutions to these are conceived of by people steeped in many means—many functionalities—they can
combine.
“It is enhanced by funding that enables this, by training and experience in myriad functionalities, by the existence of
special projects and labs devoted to the study of particular problems, and by local cultures that foster deep craft.”
–W. Brian Arthur, The Nature of Technology, 2009
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
R&D Investment Worldwide
Source: NSF 17
Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Are we losing our edge?
How do we balance R&D investments in an austere budget cycle?
What happens in five years if we don’t invest in R&D?
Innovation Is Not a Given
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Innovation in DHS S&T
“Top heavy bureaucracies remain innovation sink holes.”Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From, 2010
DHS S&T innovation advantages Problem rich environment Multidisciplinary teams Leverage others’ investments Opportunities for operational test beds, pilots, T&E Capacity to partner with private sector, academia, other federal agencies,
internationally Convening power
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003
Collaborative Innovation New hubs and vehicles for sustained intellectual sharing,
collaboration
Common, comprehensive understanding of problems to be solved
System solutions – not just technology fixes
New partnerships between US government and other players: discussion groups, collaborations, grants, contracts
Faster transition to use in the field
Clear, repeated, public descriptions of purposes and stakes
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“The single most frequent failure in the history of forecasting
has been grossly underestimatingthe impact of technologies”
–Peter Schwartz, President, Global Business Network
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Presenter’s Name June 17, 2003