The House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies & the Subcommittee on Research and Technology recently held a joint hearing on the potential re-authorization of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) directorate. S&T’s objective is to develop new technologies for agencies under DHS such as the Transportation Security Administration, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, etc. to better protect the homeland from a wide variety of threats. Representatives from both committees were concerned on the level of redundant research programs within S&T’s $1.2 billion budget across DHS; Chairman Lamar Smith highlighted a government accountability office report which described S&T’s R&D management approach as “fragmented and overlapping.”

Undersecretary Brothers responded by providing an overview of S&T’s current R&D priorities, which are guided by the quadrennial homeland security review and the direction of DHS Secretary Johnson:

The proliferation of low cost, disruptive technologies coincides with a dramatic decrease in publicly funded defense Research Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) spending from the DoD: the FY 2014 budget allocated just $63 billion to RDT&E, compared to the nearly $80 billion allocated in FY 2009. Additionally, US private sector RDT&E defense spending has fallen dramatically in terms of percentage, as well, with the largest US Defense contractors reinvesting only 1-2% of sales back into R&D. In response, senior DoD leadership has developed new initiatives to foster innovation and maximize reduced budgets through new technological offset strategies, cost sharing between close US allies, and acquisition reforms.