The Department of Homeland Security this week released its first ever strategy that lays out eight priority research areas through 2030 to guide coordination of research and development efforts across the department and industry investment.
The Innovation, Research and Development (IRD) Strategic Plan does not include a parallel investment plan but DHS said its Science and Technology Directorate will develop IRD investment roadmap for each research area that “will inform the department’s budget process for FY 2027 and beyond.”
The eight Strategic Priority Research Areas for fiscal years 2024 through 2030 are advanced sensing, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, biotechnology, climate change, communications and networking, cybersecurity, digital identity and trust, and data integration, analytics, modeling and simulation.
The plan also outlines how the research areas align with DHS’s six mission sets, which are countering terrorism and preventing threats, border security and management, immigration administration, cyber and critical infrastructure security, resiliency and response, and combating crimes of exploitation and protecting victims.
“This visionary roadmap, informed by scientific efforts, will empower DHS and its components to reduce risks to the homeland through optimized innovation, research and development efforts,” Dimitri Kusnezov, under secretary for S&T at DHS, said in a statement. “The technologies resulting from our IRD investments play a critical role in equipping the department’s front-line operators with necessary tools to outpace our adversaries and enhance our preparedness and response capabilities.”