About the Department

• Strategic Plan
• Budget and Finance
• Department Structure
  • Organization Chart
  • Leadership
• Laws and Regulations
• History
• Careers
• Compliance Issues

More from Homeland Security

• Research Areas (Portfolios)
• Unsolicited Proposals, Open for Business
• Standards
• Science and Technology for a Safer Nation (PDF, 44 pages - 12.6 MB)
• High Priority Technology Needs (PDF, 20 pages - 10.3 MB)

Science and Technology Organization

About the Directorate >> Organization

Leadership

• Under Secretary for Science and Technology, Jay M. Cohen

Divisions

• Borders and Maritime Security Division develops and transitions tools and technologies that improve the security of our Nation's borders and waterways, without impeding the flow of commerce and travelers.

• Chemical and Biological Division works to increase the Nation's preparedness against chemical and biological threats through improved threat awareness, advanced surveillance and detection, and protective countermeasures.

• Command, Control, and Interoperability Division develops interoperable communication standards and protocols for emergency responders, cyber security tools for protecting the integrity of the Internet, and automated capabilities to recognize and analyze potential threats.

• Explosives Division develops the technical capabilities to detect, interdict, and lessen the impacts of non-nuclear explosives used in terrorist attacks against mass transit, civil aviation, and critical infrastructure.

• Human Factors Division applies the social and behavioral sciences to improve detection, analysis, and understanding and response to homeland security threats.

• Infrastructure and Geophysical Division focuses on identifying and mitigating the vulnerabilities of the 17 critical infrastructure and key assets that keep our society and economy functioning.

Programs

• Homeland Security Centers of Excellence bring together leading experts and researchers to conduct multidisciplinary research and education for homeland security solutions

• Homeland Security Institute is the Department's first government "think tank" or Federally Funded Research and Development Center

• Innovation oversees the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), focusing on homeland security research and development that could lead to significant technology breakthroughs and greatly enhance departmental operations.

• Laboratory Facilities programs are executed through the Office of National Laboratories (ONL). ONL provides a coordinated, enduring core of productive science, technology, and engineering laboratories, organizations, and institutions, which can provide the knowledge and technology required to secure the Nation.

• SAFETY Act provides liability protections that make it feasible for sellers of qualified antiterrorism technologies to introduce homeland security solutions to the marketplace

• SECURE Program – Department's innovative business initiative that enables collaboration of public and private entities to develop products and services rapidly to protect the Homeland to the benefit of the taxpayers, private sector and DHS.

• TechSolutions provides information, resources, and technology solutions that address mission capability gaps identified by the emergency response community

• Test & Evaluation and Standards program provides technical support and coordination to assist the Nation's emergency responders in the acquisition of equipment, procedures, and mitigation processes that are safe, reliable, and effective.

• University Programs engages the academic community to create learning and research environments in areas critical to homeland security

This page was last reviewed/modified on August 8, 2008.