The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has released a new Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (LRBAA), which is a standing, open invitation to the scientific and technical communities to propose research and development projects in support of US national security. DHS is encouraging proposals for 23 research and development topics, which include screening at speed (SaS) and detection canine technologies.
SaS is the DHS S&T program that aims to increase security effectiveness while reducing wait times and improving the passenger experience. Examples include self-service screening and new handheld screening wands. DHS defines SaS as a “developing technology that would enable the scanning of walking passengers, acquiring data through most garments and reliably detecting a wider range of prohibited items regardless of concealment”. The SaS program will also integrate these screening tools with wide-area surveillance, airport risk assessment modeling, high-speed data processing, risk-based screening and other technologies to further reduce the overall risk throughout an airport.
“The LRBAA provides DHS the opportunity to explore unique ideas for potential innovative solutions from industry and academia to address some of the country’s most pressing security challenges,” said Dusty Lang, LRBAA program manager. “The process is designed to allow innovators to gauge DHS’ interest early on, reducing the effort and expense of creating a full proposal.”
A hybrid Industry Day will be held on August 21, 2024, 10:00am to 4:00pm ET, at the DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, DC, which will include in-person and virtual attendance options. The free event will provide attendees with an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the topics in the new announcement. Registrations are now open.
In related news, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has announced that Credence ID, Hushmesh, Netis, Procivis, SpruceID and Ubiqu have each won a United States government contract to develop technologies that protect the privacy of individuals using digital versions of credentials issued for travel and immigration. These digital credential users could eventually store their information in privacy-enhanced digital wallets. Click here to read the full story.