Transcript STAC RESTRUCTURE - Security Innovation Network (SINET)

SINET Innovation Summit
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
October 4, 2011
Tara O’Toole, M.D., M.P.H.
Under Secretary for Science and Technology
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Key Points
 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
Department of Homeland Security
The Core Missions
1. Preventing terrorism and enhancing security;
2. Securing and managing our borders;
3. Enforcing and administering our immigration laws;
4. Safeguarding and securing cyberspace; and
5. Ensuring resilience to disasters.
3
Evolution of Terrorist Attacks in Aviation
Time
1970’s
Event/Threat
Vulnerability
Response
Hostage/Hijacking
Guns, weapons
Magnetometers
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
1988
US Airline Flight Density
Sources:Koblin
Worldwide Land and Sea Shipping Density
Sources: Uchida, Nelson
Visualization of the Internet
Sources: OPTE Project
Deepwater Horizon
Sources: Reuters, Wikimedia Commons
Three Near-Simultaneous Disasters
Magnitude 9.0
Sources: AP, Reuters
Complex Systems Fail Complexly
“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
DHS S&T Mission
Strengthen America’s security and resiliency by providing
knowledge products and innovative technology solutions
for the Homeland Security Enterprise
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
Goal 1: Transition to Use
Rapidly develop and deliver knowledge, analyses,
and innovative solutions that advance the mission
of the Department
 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
Portfolio Analysis: Key Questions
1. Is our portfolio making a significant
impact on our customer’s mission?
2. Are we transitioning relevant
products to the field?
3. Is our investment positioning the
organization for the future?
4. Are we clear on what we are trying to
achieve?
5. Do we have the appropriate level of
customer interaction?
6. Are we sufficiently innovative in the
way we approach our challenges?
Impact?
Transition?
Technical Positioning?
Clarity of Purpose?
Customer Involvement?
Innovation?
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.
…every 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
W. Brian Arthur, The Nature of Technology
“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. “
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  Deep understanding of “the problem”
 Multidisciplinary teams
 Emphasis on near-term development, transition to use: technology
foraging, leverage others’ investments
 Rich opportunities for operational test beds, pilots, T&E
 Capacity to partner with private sector, academia, other federal
agencies, internationally
 Convening power
What’s Needed
 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
“The single most frequent failure
in the history of forecasting
has been grossly underestimating the
impact of technologies”
- Peter Schwartz
President, Global Business Network