It is commonly stated that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rose from the ashes of 9/11.

It can be fairly evident that the brand new management of the fledgling DHS understood that to actually safe our nation, an interconnected hub for innovation in analysis and improvement should be established. This new entity would want to coordinate, fund, fuse, and spur origination and improvement all through the newly conceptualized homeland safety enterprise (HSE). To fulfill that want, as DHS rose, so did the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T).

That was 20 years in the past…and we’re nonetheless rising.

Last week, I had the consideration of becoming a member of my DHS colleagues on the Department’s personal twentieth Anniversary commemoration. It turned very clear to me that, whereas I typically nonetheless really feel a bit like the brand new man, I’m in the precise place on the proper time surrounded by one of the best individuals to get the job accomplished. So, wanting again on this vital anniversary, I’d wish to take a second to say thanks to the women and men who’ve devoted themselves to our nation by their service, particularly right here at S&T.

The achievements we have now achieved in these twenty years are too huge to listing right here. They span aviation and border safety, chemical and organic risk discount, local weather change affect, important infrastructure resilience, cybersecurity, first responder help, human trafficking, explosives and opioids detection, public well being safety—and that solely scratches the floor of what we do. But most significantly, from a 20,000-foot perspective, we have now continued to efficiently embody the unending mission. We have and proceed to play our enduring position in making ready for and defending our nation from artifical and pure disasters, and we do this by investments in science and expertise. We do it by collaboration with our native, state, federal, tribal, and international companions. We do it with a workforce that’s various, agile, forward-thinking, artistic, and mission centered.

No different company is as uniquely positioned as we’re to positively affect the HSE in these areas.

A twentieth anniversary is certainly a time to look again, see the place we began, and acknowledge our successes. But extra importantly, it’s a time to evaluate what we have now discovered and apply it to the long run.

That future is coming quicker and quicker, and it’s much less and fewer predictable. So, whereas we handle the identified problems with at present, we additionally should put together for the unknown future threats of tomorrow. We do that by specializing in stringent analysis, improvement, testing and analysis, evidence-based scientific and technical findings, and naturally, the scientific technique. If this sounds just like the fundamentals of fine science, you’re completely proper. That’s what we do.

There has by no means been a extra exhilarating time to be in science. The rising maturation of synthetic intelligence, blockchain, and quantum computing may barely be imagined a era in the past, however they’re right here, and they’re altering how we’re capable of put together for and reply to an evolving risk panorama. Whether we’re offering first responders with next-generation life-saving protecting gear, designing and deploying sensors to arm businesses with important real-time information, fortifying our infrastructure and constructing resilient communities, instructing faculty youngsters to avoid wasting lives, or leveraging expertise to seize human traffickers and eradicate baby exploitation, that is an period of unparalleled alternative for innovation.

We dwell in a golden age of science and expertise, and S&T is on the innovative. I couldn’t be extra enthusiastic about what’s on the horizon and the way S&T will assist form the long run.

As a part of our twentieth anniversary celebration, we lately spoke with each one in every of S&T’s earlier Under Secretaries. In the months to come back, we’ll share their views on their tenures at S&T, and in addition their ideas concerning the long run. Additionally, you’ll hear way more from me about my imaginative and prescient for the place we’ll go from right here. I hope you discover our insights thought-provoking and informative.

So, if science, expertise, innovation, and defending our nation will get your blood pumping, you’re proper the place (and when) you’re imagined to be.

Read more at DHS S&T