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National Conversation on Homeland Security Technology

National Conversation on Homeland Security Technology

The National Conversation on Homeland Security Technology is a series of online and in-person discussions picture of traffic driving through flooded interstate. Text reads: Join the conversation. Be the future of R&D.designed to get people talking about innovative solutions for the Nation’s homeland security challenges.

What is the National Conversation about?

The National Conversation addresses any issue related to homeland security technology capabilities. Previous topics include sensors, wearable technologies for responders, multi-directional situational awareness and decision making, cybersecurity, screening, and community resilience.

Current Dialogue: Flood Resilience!

Flood Resilience focuses on a whole-of- community effort to improve flood resilience for individuals, organizations, and governments. The conversation is not limited to any one group; everyone is invited to participate! This means responders, operational users, citizens, academia, and industry.

  • Operational users can clarify capability gaps and provide input on the usefulness of technology that is currently available.
  • Industry & academia can obtain a better understanding of operational capability gaps and market opportunities, become better connected, and expand partnerships.
  • Government organizations can take advantage of a new window of opportunity to collaborate, plan ahead, and expand networks.
  • Citizens can provide insight and ideas on how solutions can best support the pace of daily life.

Interested? Then participate today!

  • Online—Join us virtually through the S&T Collaboration Community. Q&A and Ideation forums are not facilitated, so feel free to post at any time. The community is active 24/7.
  • Events—Participate in in-person and virtual meet-ups, roundtables, workshops, and webinars.

Past Conversation Highlights

The National Conversation's inaugural year focused on S&T's five Visionary Goals and several topics geared toward specific issue areas such as bio/agro security, mass transit, and airport security at international borders. Over 1,500 public safety, homeland security, and emergency management stakeholders representing government, academia, and non-profit organizations participated. Technology innovators were also among the participant base, drawing connections between emerging technologies and their applicability to homeland security and public safety priorities. The infographic below highlights key points gleaned from the discussions.

NATIONAL CONVERSATION PARTICIPATION In an effort to reinvent the way federal government conducts research and development, S&T launched the National Conversation on Homeland Security. Technology (National Conversation). The S&T Collaboration Community had 2,855 participants (December 2015) The Community spanned 41 U.S. states & territories & 19 countries. A total of 1,597 members of the user base actively participated in dialogue discussions Users came from homeland security, public safety, and emergency management 1,597 members of the user base actively participated in dialogue discussions We had 103 ideas posted, 341 comments, and 685 votes on conversations. KEY SUCCESSES Overall, the National Conversation succeeded in fulfilling its inaugural objective—to foster exchange between operational users and innovators. Participants across the homeland security spectrum shared hundreds of resources, recommendations, and new ideas. The community-driven connections that provided value to a wide range of participants, including S&T staff. The most active dialogues were Responder of the Future and A Trusted Cyber Future. The organic exchange in these dialogues resulted in new ideas, questions, and comments posted. The outcomes from the popular Trusted Cyber Future dialogue were helpful in updating CSD's strategic R&D plan. Doug Maughan was actively involved from the beginning, resulting in participants feeling connected and motivated to share input. NGFR staff were actively involved in their conversation; posting online content, hosted in-person events, and promotion on multiple platforms. CSD used the S&T Collaboration Community as a tool to capture feedback based on the framework they used for in-person engagements. LESSONS LEARNED, Connect dialogue content more tightly with specific S&T activities. Increase visible involvement of S&T representatives. Diversify engagement mechanisms to allow for conversation capabilities. The S&T Collaboration Community should be used as a complementary tool.

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