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Homeland Security Research Priorities Based on your review of the assigned readings and any other supplementary sources on the topics of technology and research issues in homeland security, which do you feel are the most urgent and potentially valuable technology applications or research focus areas, and why? Regarding these applications or focus areas, what do you think is the appropriate role and contribution of academic institutions (i.e., colleges and universities, including their affiliated laboratories, centers or institutes) relative to the private sector in terms of homeland security-related research & development, outreach, training and education? Author: Jonathan B. Smith Michigan
State University 's School of Criminal Justice Focus Area Throughout the entirety of this course I have taken the position that “homeland security is everyone’s responsibility.” There is a tremendous effort being focused upon developing new technologies and solutions to ensure our nation’s security. In my opinion, the most important research agenda is the issue of developing a campaign to unify the collective intelligence and commitment of the populace to help fight the War on Terror. The Department of Homeland Security and the law enforcement community alone may be able to stop most attacks, but adding the combined efforts of the nation’s citizens will be tantamount to adding a “sixth sense.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge noted: "Since the events of September 11, a counterterrorism coalition of nearly 70 nations has been working together in the critical areas of law enforcement, information sharing, transportation security, cybersecurity, and financial asset seizure."(U.S. Department of State, 2004) I believe that we need to enlist the assistance of the 250 million citizens of the U.S. in the same way that the coalition is working together globally to fight the War on Terror. Steven Flynn in America the Vulnerable said it best when discussing the security measures that have been put in place at Logan Airport:
The war machine during WWII created unprecedented levels of commitment and support for the war effort. The marketing and advertising efforts to help deliver this support was absolutely ingenious. We live in an era of unprecedented communication albeit radio, television, Internet, telephone, wireless, etc. I believe that we need to fill this critical infrastructure system with messages in an effort to create the same level of civic commitment today that led Tom Brokaw to name his book about the men and women of WWII The Greatest Generation. As such, I feel that we need to enlist the research and development (R&D) capabilities of our government, academic institutions and private sector to develop the most effective advertising and public relations campaigns and means for delivering them. Contribution I strongly support the notion that both the government, academia and the public needs to be involved in the R&D efforts to rally the nation. Our nation’s academic and private sector R&D capabilities are the envy of the entire world and represent a significant critical, yet distributed, infrastructure that we have not focused upon a great deal during this semester. I believe that it is critical that all three of the aforementioned R&D communities support the effort to raise nation’s level of civic responsibility. The government has the organization to help finance, research and disseminate the message. The academic community possesses a great concentration of laboratories, intellectual capital and research discipline. The public sector is full of infinitely creative technical, advertising and public relations savvy people who can help create and execute the plan . The resources are all in place to develop an exceedingly powerful response to any research challenge posed to it. I believe that aligning the civic conscience of 250 million people will prove to be one of the best uses of our nation’s R&D capabilities. Works Cited Flynn, S. (2004). America the vulnerable:
How our government is failing to protect us from terrorism. Kansas State Historical Society. (2004). Topics
in Kansas History: War. Missoulian. (2001). The Greatest Generation.
MIT. (2003). 14.06 Intermediate Macroeconomic
Theory, Spring 2003. U.S. Department of State. (2004). Terrorism
Requires Global Response, Homeland Security Chief Says. Retrieved
November 16, 2004, from Advisory
System | Bio
Terror | DHS
Priorities | DHS
Progress | Emergency
Management | Homeland
Security Defined | Infrastructure
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