The Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is a component within the
United States Department of Homeland Security. DHS-S&T serves as the
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
arm of the Department as it fulfills its
national security
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
mission.
The Science and Technology Directorate is led by the
Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, who is appointed by the
President of the United States with confirmation by the
United States Senate.
Dimitri Kusnezov is the Under Secretary.
Initiatives and programs
The Under Secretary for Homeland Security Science and Technology currently administers a number of publicly available programs to promote independent development of homeland security technologies.
SAFECOM is the Federal umbrella program designed to foster interoperability among the Nation’s public safety practitioners, so that they may communicate across disciplines and jurisdictions during an emergency.
SAFETY Act provides liability protections that make it feasible for sellers of qualified antiterrorism technologies to introduce homeland security solutions to the marketplace.
Homeland Open Security Technology (HOST) is a five-year, $10 million program to promote the creation and use of
open security and
open-source software in the United States government and military. In October 2011, the directorate won the