DHS's researchers receive a 2-year, $2.3 billion appropriation
In a vote of confidence, the House Homeland Security Committee unanimously passes a 2-year, $2.3 billion appropriation to fund the push-the-envelope R&D efforts of DHS’s Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate; among other things, the bill would create an Office of Public-Private Partnerships inside S&T to make sure that promising private-sector products and solutions get the support they need; to ensure good ideas do not fall through the cracks, S&T would also establish a Rapid Response Division
Talk about a vote of confidence: last Thursday the House Homeland Security Committee unanimously passed an authorization bill (pdf) appropriating DHS’s Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate approximately $2.3 billion over the next two years to research and develop next-generation technologies for protecting the homeland.
Matthew Harwood notes that in the past, there were those who criticized S&T for concentrating on short-term technology solutions to immediate problems rather than taking the long view. Whether or not there was merit to this criticism, the new bill will allow the agency’s restless researchers room to consider solution for long-term issues. “This comprehensive bill is the result of nine months of bipartisan process,” said Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) in a statement. “From screening technologies to first responder equipment, this bill ensures that the Science and Technology Directorate is at the forefront of efforts to develop novel approaches and technologies to respond to some of the most vexing homeland security challenges” (for more on S&T’s innovation and creativity, see Joseph Straw’s “From Research to Reality” in the February issue of Security Management).
NextGov.com reports that with concerns about cybersecurity high, the bill would double S&T’s cybersecurity research and development budget to $150 million over the next two years. The bill would also create an Office of Public-Private Partnerships inside S&T so that promising private-sector products and solutions get the support they need to become viable. Harwood writes that to ensure S&T does not let good ideas fall through the cracks, the office would establish a Rapid Response Division “to perform business and technical reviews to assist in screening unsolicited homeland security technology proposals,” the legislation says. Thompson said the bill would help innovative firms, especially small businesses, cut through DHS red tape and get their ideas to S&T decision makers.
“I cannot tell you how many times I have been approached by a company with a novel homeland security technology that has been frustrated by how difficult it is to work with S&T,” NextGov.com quotes Thompson to say.
Note that this is the first authorization bill for S&T since DHS’ creation in 2002.
