The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) recently announced a total of $3.1 million in competitive research awards for 29 small businesses located across 12 states, and Washington, DC.
Each business was awarded approximately $100,000 in preliminary funding through DHS S&T’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The DHS S&T SBIR program is a competitive contract awards program created with the goal of increasing the participation of innovative and creative US small businesses in federal research and development programs and challenging industry to bring innovative homeland security solutions to reality.
The program is focused on near-term commercialization and delivery of operational prototypes to federal, state and local emergency responders and managers, as well as internal DHS entities.
Thirty-one contracts were awarded in 10 topic areas developed by DHS S&T to address the research and development needs of DHS components and the greater homeland security enterprise.
The topics included security systems video and audio interoperability, applicability of blockchain technology to identity management and privacy protection, malware prediction for preemptive cyber defense, autonomous indoor navigation and tracking of first responders, Internet of Things low-cost flood inundation sensors, and real-time assessment of resilience and preparedness.
DHS S&T said small businesses may be eligible for further development funding from their initial project results, as well as the scientific and technical merit and perceived commercialization potential moving forward into development.
