Getting a Grip on Homeland Security
August / September 2005
Volume 3 Number 4
"Acknowledging that equipment the department now buys is inadequate, [Michael Chernoff, Secretary of Homeland Security] is calling for a new generation of devices that can detect biological, nuclear and chemical weapons. The agency must also acquire advanced devices that can prevent terrorists from carrying explosives onto planes—€¦"
—€”The New York Times
In the two years since the Department of Homeland Security opened its doors for —€” and to —€” business, Congress has pumped millions of dollars into budgets for technology to help keep America safe. But how effectively is the department spending the money and reaching out to the businesses, incubators and research institutions that provide that technology?
It depends on whom you ask.
The department itself, not surprisingly, trumpets its success in tapping the business sector, cultivating technology and applying it to homeland defense. At the same time, DHS officials say there is always room for improvement in its outreach to business.
"The private sector is a fundamental partner in the department's nationwide efforts to secure our homeland," Al Martinez-Fonts, special assistant to the secretary, said at a congressional budget hearing this year. "The rewards of the department's growing relationships with the private sector are evident—€¦"
Private firms with DHS contracts —€” again not surprisingly—€” express similar satisfaction with the department, and have some pretty useful suggestions for others who would like to get into the game.
Impartial observers, such as defense experts at respected Washington think tanks, give the new agency mixed reviews in its ability to identify, cultivate and use technologies spawned by the private sector.
"It's still very much a work in progress," said Jim Carafano, senior research fellow for national and homeland security at The Heritage Foundation. "It's still not a settled environment. Not much has really changed in the last year in that respect." However, Carafano and others give the department high marks for effort, saying never in the history of U.S. government has a brand-new agency made a seamless transition from fledgling bureaucracy to effective agency of the people.
"If you look at how the Department of Defense matured and how some of these other large departments matured, it's very difficult to put these (programs) together quickly," Carafano said. "Patience is the byword."
One company that has had significant success winning contracts with DHS is BearingPoint, Inc., an international consulting firm based in McLean, Va., just outside the nation's capital. To date, the international firm has secured at least 70 contracts with the department including deals to help deploy technology such as security key cards and terrorist databases. BearingPoint is also considered a leader in helping the agency identify and groom smaller companies to join in the DHS effort.
Daryl Moody, senior vice president of BearingPoint, said in a lengthy interview with TechComm that there are a lot of opportunities for technology firms, even smaller less-established firms, to get a toehold on DHS's science and technology budget. But Moody says you have to know what you're doing within the federal bureaucracy and you have to be committed to the cause.
"What I tell these companies is, —€˜Come on in, the water's fine'," Moody says. "But to be successful in the homeland security market you need to be, I believe, committed to the market and the cause of homeland security." It also helps if you're not doing it alone and can get a foot in the door with the help of an established contractor.
"Partner with a large systems integrator that has been around and understands how to do business in the federal space," Moody says. "It's hard for small businesses to get in because there are so many companies pinging on the department and the staff that they really don't have time to give every company a really good review.
"If you just keep sending in your brochure and hoping you catch somebody on the right day, it's a tough way to go."
BearingPoint has become a leader in the department's mentor-protégé program. The program encourages the support of small business through shared resources. Basically, companies such as BearingPoint agree to take on a smaller company as its mentor and helps shepherd it and its product into the DHS fold.
"We are very active in the effort to reach out to small businesses and technology firms and bring them into the department," Moody says.
One such venture, with BearingPoint and Thomas & Herbert Consulting of Maryland, recently won special recognition from DHS for its work on a five-year $30 million project designed to consolidate terrorist information and develop a plan to make more efficient use of that information. Rodney Thomas, president and CEO of T&H, said the relationship has been good for both companies, as well as the mission of keeping America safer from terrorists. "T&H and BearingPoint have forged a relationship that provides DHS with the focus and agility of a small company coupled with the vast resources and best practices of a large company," Thomas says.
Gerald L. Epstein, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said DHS is definitely committed to science and technology, as its budget ($127 million in FY 2006) is steadily growing.
"That shows an interest and a real awareness of the need," he said.
But Epstein questioned the department's strategic approach to meeting the need. He said when the department was launched it began "grabbing" existing technologies such as bio-detectors and stockpiling them. But the question remains, what to do with them or how to apply them in a homeland security context?
Carafano says companies, scientists and entrepreneurs who pay close attention to what the department wants, as opposed to offering what it thinks it needs, will have the most success winning contracts. "If someone has a good idea and there is not a defined requirement for it at DHS it is very, very hard for it to find a home," Carafano says.
He suggests that the department do a better job of taking a long-term approach to science and technology, as opposed to its relentless focus on the short run."The fact that they have gotten so near-focused is a mistake," he says. "The problem is in defining the requirements —€” the department has been too consumed by the immediate to look for long-range, cutting-edge, risky technologies."
Carafano and Epstein agree that the greatest need now is finding ways to deploy and effectively implement existing technology, such as biodetectors, bomb defusion devices, tracking devices and other inventions to a homeland security need. "The greatest challenge is in systems engineering, to make the technology fit for homeland security, more than actually developing new cutting-edge technologies," Carafano says.
Moody said entrepreneurs who are trying to get in and make a fast buck on an unproven technology are inviting frustration and futility. There already are established companies with proven track records that are doing business with DHS.
"It's is a highly competitive field," Moody says. "It's one of the few areas in the federal budget that is growing so it's attracting many of the traditional players who are coming at it with their top talent and some very aggressive pricing."
Moody also says the requirements and expectations on your business are not for the faint of heart. "The pressure and expectation of performance is really high," he says. "The last thing you want is your name on the front page of the paper because your security measure didn't work."
Tom Michael reports from Washington for TechComm.
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