A DHS skunkworks project: defining and addressing homeland security grand challenges
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Authors
Bowman, Calvin J.
Subjects
grand challenge
moonshot
DARPA
XPRIZE
Skunkworks
innovation
global
science and technology
homeland security
Department of Homeland Security
exponential
visioneering
visioneers
use-inspired
crowdsourcing
prize competition
Massive Transformational Purpose
Archon XPRIZE
Human Genome Project
Moore's Law
research and development
Peter Diamandis
Ansari XPRIZE
market failure
technology
stealth technologies
Pasteur's quadrant
Heilmeier Catechism
Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency
HSARPA
DHS
strategic planning
disruptive technology
Strategic Foresight Initiative
FEMA
project management triangle
triple constraint
moonshot
DARPA
XPRIZE
Skunkworks
innovation
global
science and technology
homeland security
Department of Homeland Security
exponential
visioneering
visioneers
use-inspired
crowdsourcing
prize competition
Massive Transformational Purpose
Archon XPRIZE
Human Genome Project
Moore's Law
research and development
Peter Diamandis
Ansari XPRIZE
market failure
technology
stealth technologies
Pasteur's quadrant
Heilmeier Catechism
Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency
HSARPA
DHS
strategic planning
disruptive technology
Strategic Foresight Initiative
FEMA
project management triangle
triple constraint
Advisors
Nieto-Gomez, Rodrigo
Thorpe, Jack
Date of Issue
2016-12
Date
Dec-16
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
What global grand challenges do we face today that will have an impact on the homeland security landscape twenty-five years from now? Today, a grand challenge is intended as a call-to-action for a given field, to find the potential solution for a moonshot problem. This thesis recommends potential methods and organizational capacity requirements for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) science and technology (S&T) based on a focused comparison of three cases: XPRIZE, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and DHS S&T. This research shows that both XPRIZE and DARPA have a consistent record of innovation and disruption that have transformed contemporary life through, for example, the internet, space travel, cloud computing, GPS, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and satellite imagery. However, DHS S&T has an uneven history and uninspiring track record of using research and development to deliver results. Through a contemporary application of smart practices used by XPRIZE and DARPA, DHS can better prepare for today's shifting technological threat environment. DHS' current approach to grand challenges is local and linear when it should be global and innovative. Better defining moonshot problems will lay the foundation for S&T to adopt pioneering strategies and to harness the massive potential of the crowd. These strategies will further drive innovation, the cornerstone to solving tomorrow's grand challenges.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.