DHS S&T Announces Track 3 of the Remote Identity Validation Tech Demo Challenge
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced the launch of Track 3 of the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD). Held in partnership with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Homeland Security Investigations Forensic Laboratory, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), RIVTD is a series of technology challenges to evaluate the ability […]
DHS S&T to Release 2022 Biometric Tech Rally Results
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) will announce results from the 2022 Biometric Technology Rally (2022 Rally) on Thursday, February 23at 11AM ET at the DHS Maryland Test Facility in Upper Marlboro, Md. Started in 2018, the Rally challenges industry to develop faster, more accurate, and easier to use biometric recognition capabilities to improve security and ease of use at security checkpoints.
DHS Awards $1M to California Small Business for Soft Targets and Crowded Places Security Solutions
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program recently awarded $999,644.84 to California-based small business Karagozian & Case, Inc. to develop an advanced software capability that enables security professionals to view their environment through a mobile device to identify and mitigate threats toward soft target and crowded places. The research will support ongoing work by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to address security and preparedness in places such as sports venues, shopping venues, schools, and transportation systems.
DHS S&T Tests Innovative Air Domain Awareness Technology
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is evaluating cutting-edge air domain awareness technologies to support DHS’s mission to protect the airspace along our northern border with Canada. Working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration to develop requirements and testing criteria, S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory led a test team that also included the Montana National Guard, Northern Plains UAS Test Site, and MITRE.
DHS Awards $750K to Texas Small Business for Urban Detection and Identification of small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program awarded $750,000 to Texas-based small business Cobalt Solutions Inc. to develop a detection and tracking sensor system that can identify nefarious small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in an urban environment. The DHS SBIR Program selected Cobalt Solutions Inc. for a Phase II award after they successfully demonstrated the feasibility of their 5G Passive Radar UAS Tracking and Targeting (5G-PRT) sensor system.
DHS S&T Launches Series 3 of Virtual Whole-of-Government R&D Showcase
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) launched the third installment of the Virtual Whole-of-Government R&D Showcase. This unique four-part series highlights how S&T and its partners across government are mobilizing research and development (R&D) teams to reduce risks from natural and human-induced disasters; accelerating breakthrough discoveries; and helping the nation prepare against future threats and unknowns.
DHS S&T Brings Next-Generation Incident Command System
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is joining forces with the non-profit Beacon NGO to advance open source software capabilities for public safety. Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), Beacon NGO will analyze open source code for S&T’s Next-Generation Incident Command System (NICS) and deliver it to a larger emergency response community.
DHS S&T Calls for Submissions to Biometric Tech Rally
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) invites biometric technology developers to apply to participate in the 2021 Biometric Technology Rally. Started in 2018, the Biometric Technology Rally challenges industry to deliver fast, accurate, and easy-to-use biometric recognition capabilities to improve security and user facilitation at checkpoint processing.
NEC Tops Competition in Identifying Subjects Wearing Face Masks at DHS 2020 Biometric Technology Rally
An algorithm submitted by NEC Corporation of America (NEC) outpaced all competition in correctly matching images of subjects wearing face masks at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) 2020 Biometric Technology Rally. The algorithm submitted by NEC, code-named ‘Alan’ for the anonymized test, achieved the highest True Identification Rate (TIR) at 98.7%.
Northrop Grumman Wins $95 Million Contract From DHS
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a $95 million contract by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM) to develop increments one and two of the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) system. Northrop Grumman will serve as systems developer and integrator for this 42-month effort. HART is the organization’s next-generation recognition program, replacing the Automated Biometric Identity System (IDENT) built in the 1990s.
Johnson Controls And DHS Sign Cooperative R&D Agreement On CyberSecurity
In an effort to improve cyber-threat information sharing and analysis, Johnson Controls, a global leader in energy efficiency, integrated solutions and building controls, announces a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Cybersecurity and Communications. The agreement will help secure our nation’s critical infrastructure from those with malicious intent.
DHS Scales Back License Plate-Tracking Surveillance
The Department of Homeland Security has scaled back the scope of contractor requirements for what would have been a nationwide license plate-scanning effort, amid continued uproar over the on-again-off-again project. The new system, announced last month, will compile license plate records from “at least 25 states” instead of all states, DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said in a May 1 modification of the contract requirements.
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DHS Biometric Program Gets $250 Million From Senate
A Senate subcommittee recently approved a request from the United States Department of Homeland Security for nearly a quarter-of-a-billion dollars to be used on a state-of-the-art biometric system. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on DHS green-lighted more than $47 billion to go towards the agency as part of a request made for funding in fiscal year […]
DHS Testing Biometric Exit Devices At Mock Airport This Summer
With other nations already utilizing such technology, the U.S. Homeland Security Department is preparing to test biometric devices that will let it track passengers when they exit the country, in response to a congressional mandate that it has struggled for more than a decade to fulfill. Congress first called for an automated system to track […]
DHS Awards XTec Contested $103 Million Biometric ID Contract
The Homeland Security Department has switched vendors for a deal inked last September to update an employee badge system with advanced biometric verification features, such as face and iris scans, officials announced late Friday. DHS originally awarded the $102 million contract to HP Enterprise Services on Sept. 27, 2013, but in November the department notified the Government Accountability Office that it was reevaluating the award after XTec, which had previously provided software for the project, argued that "the agency did not reasonably evaluate proposals," Ralph White, GAO managing associate general counsel, told Nextgov last month in an email. The value of the new contract, over an anticipated 10-year timeline, will remain the same, Homeland Security officials say. DHS awarded the new contract to XTec Inc., on Feb. 28, officials said in a filing on FedBizOps.gov, a website for federal business opportunities. Homeland Security last month temporarily extended XTec’s expiring contract for one year while reassessing technologies proposed by XTec, HP and other technology firms. In recent years, GAO attorneys had twice dismissed challenges to contracts brought by XTec. In November 2011, the credentialing firm was unsuccessful in contesting an award to Secure Mission Solutions for a Secret Service access control and visitor management system. Later that month, XTec lost a protest against an order for HP technology to support a General Services Administration system that issued and maintained ID cards for employees governmentwide. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the government required that all federal employees carry biometric ID badges […]
Source www.nextgov.com
Seattle Latest City To Install DHS Surveillance Equipment
Seattle Latest City to Install DHS Surveillance Equipment Add Seattle to the list of local governments taking money from the Department of Homeland Security to put their citizens under federal surveillance. Seattle newspaper The Stranger reports : If you’re walking around downtown while looking at a smartphone, you will probably see at least one — and more likely two or three — Wi-Fi networks named after intersections: “4th&Seneca,” “4th&Union,” “4th&University,” and so on. That is how you can see the Seattle Police Department’s new wireless mesh network, bought from a California-based company called Aruba Networks, whose clients include the Department of Defense, school districts in Canada, oil-mining interests in China, and telecommunications companies in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps wiring the city with high-tech, federally funded surveillance equipment is what Seattle mayor meant when he described the city’s budget as “a moral document. It puts resources behind our vision of the city we want to see.” Apparently, part of those resources are coming from the federal government and they are earmarked for use to putting the city under the vision of the Department of Homeland Security. When pressed for details about his department’s new monitoring agreement with DHS, Seattle Police Department Detective Monty Moss said he “is not comfortable answering policy questions when we do not yet have a policy,” as reported by The Stranger . The paper continues: But, Detective Moss added, the SPD “is actively collaborating with the mayor’s office, city council, law department, and the ACLU on a […]
Source thenewamerican.com
DHS To Test Face Scanning Cameras At Tri-City Hockey Game
Source: TriCityHerald … It is planned to be used by the U.S. government to test the capabilities of facial recognition software that is available or in the prototype stage. Eventually, state-of-the-art facial recognition technologies could be used to identify terrorists and criminals in public areas, according to the national lab in Richland. The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate works to make technology available to agencies ranging from local police offices to the U.S. Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. PNNL previously has collected video at the Toyota Center for work with the Department of Homeland Security. But past video either has not captured members of the public or has been too low resolution to identify faces. Hockey fans who don’t want to be on the video will be given options to avoid the cameras. Read More…
Source www.blacklistednews.com
Las Vegas Installs 37 DHS Surveillance Cameras On The Strip
What happens in Vegas… is now recorded by cameras provided by the Department of Homeland Security. All along the storied Las Vegas Strip, 37 surveillance cameras watch and record every movement. Such an expensive purchase might surprise citizens of Sin City given that the Metropolitan Police Department is in the middle of a hiring freeze […]