The best facial recognition systems work very well matching people of all races to their file photographs when tested in a real-world scenario, but when the volunteer subjects were wearing face masks, even the better performing systems showed increased racial disparities in performance, Department of Homeland Security officials told AFCEA’s 2021 Federal Identity Forum and Expo Tuesday.
science and technology directorate
April 5, 2021
To develop capabilities to monitor the current COVID-19 pandemic and other future biological events, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate has awarded $199,648 to Mesur.io Inc., for analysis and reporting of outbreak-related data.
December 11, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) will launch its first Homeland Security Startup Studio in January. The program is a partnership with FedTech and is aimed at commercializing federally funded breakthrough technologies to support homeland security missions, the directorate announced December 10.
July 1, 2020
Under a joint pilot program, verifying the security of mobile application software for use within the federal government no longer needs to be time consuming or expensive. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working with a partnership within the NSA, automated the process to determine if apps meet the agency’s National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) protection profile.
June 11, 2020
January 22, 2020
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded a $704,000 research-and-development (R&D) contract to Atlanta-based Georgia Tech Applied Research Center (GTARC) to support trustmark framework efforts to aid the public safety community’s information sharing and safeguarding capabilities, DHS reported. The GTARC R&D project will specifically address the lack of mature software tools to support the trustmark framework’s primary use-cases, such as emergency communications interoperability.
November 13, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded $159,040 to Learning Machine Technologies Inc. to develop blockchain security technology to prevent credential fraud.
October 18, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is launching its latest S&T Impact Series case study, one that highlights many of the precautions and actions the department is taking to strengthen the nation’s cyber capabilities.
October 3, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $199,680 to Bastille Networks, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia. Under the Phase 4 award of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program’s (SVIP’s) “Security for the Internet of Things” solicitation, the company will provide its Internet of Things (IoT) security solution, which will enable system administrators to gain real-time situational awareness of threats on connected devices, according to the agency.
September 30, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $200,000 to CryptoMove, Inc., to support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) security. CryptoMove is a start-up company in San Mateo, California, and is developing capabilities to protect CBP sUAS platforms from malicious actors. It uses a dynamic defense system and data fragmentation approach for the sUAS platforms, which is embedded in all levels of the technology architecture. The technology offers automated system resilience for connected devices, DHS reported.
September 27, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $143,478 to Danube Tech GmbH, a company based in Vienna, Austria, to develop blockchain security technology, the agency reported in a statement. The award was made under S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) Other Transaction Solicitation Preventing Forgery and Counterfeiting of Certificates and Licenses. The agency has identified blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) as a priority solution fors DHS missions.
August 27, 2019
Deployable flood inundation sensors based on the Internet of Things are being developed to monitor flood-prone areas in real time to rapidly detect them and alert officials, industry and citizens to potential threats. State and local government jurisdictions operationally field tested early versions of the technology over a nine-month period. During the next phase, the sensors will be enhanced for production and commercialization to both domestic and international partners to help densify their flood sensing networks for alerts, warnings and notifications.
June 6, 2019
First responders can’t always use the same apps the general public depends on to get to their destination by the fastest route. Commercial apps may not factor in delays such as weather events, traffic accidents or the size and weight of their vehicles.
February 25, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate is teaming up with NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration in order to manage unmanned aerial vehicle traffic. With projections of seven million drones that could congest the national airspace, the federal agencies needed a capability to control the domain.
They are creating the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management infrastructure, or UTM, a cloud-based, automated air traffic management system, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). The UTM would then communicate with a required UAS Service Supplier interface on drones.
February 13, 2019
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is benefiting from the first three technologies to successfully transition from the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP).
October 4, 2018
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has reorganized its research and development (R&D) structure to more rapidly transition technology capabilities into operations and respond to emerging threats.
William N. Bryan, the senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology, DHS, explains the revitalized configuration enhances the focus on the needs of the DHS operational components and homeland security operators across all levels of government.
October 3, 2018
Over the last decade, emergency responders have increasingly relied on robots to assist with public safety functions that may be too dangerous for humans. Autonomous systems can perform search and rescue tasks, provide decision support, transport medical supplies, extinguish fires, map disaster areas or accomplish other important rescue functions.
October 2, 2018
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) reported that it had awarded a $200,000 contract to Israel-based Morphisec to develop technology solutions to prevent cyberattacks on financial institutions.
June 18, 2018
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has awarded $192,380 to Factom, Inc., a start-up based in Austin, Texas, to begin beta testing of a capability that uses blockchain technology to secure Internet of Things (IoT) data, according to a DHS announcement. The award was part of the fourth and final phase of S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP). Factom will explore the opportunities to use blockchain technology with sensors, cameras and other critical infrastructure, to protect the integrity and authenticity of data collected by the devices.
March 14, 2018
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate has released two publications, the 2018 Cyber Security Division Portfolio Guide and the 2018 Cyber Security Division Technology Guide, to help transition mature cybersecurity solutions to the marketplace.
July 25, 2012
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate has unveiled an open source cybersecurity tool for information sharing across the Internet. Open Secure Socket Layer (OpenSSL) version 2.0 is a free, publicly available security application that meets all federal security guidelines and is now available for government agencies. All agencies using cryptographic software validated for Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 can now use the new version, which applies to cryptography that protect sensitive or valuable data within the federal government.
