The Homeland Security Institute (HSI) is a Studies and Analysis (S&A) Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) established pursuant to Section 312 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The HSI delivers independent and objective analyses and advises in core areas important to its sponsor in support of policy development, decision-making, analysis of alternative approaches, and evaluation of new ideas on issues of significance. The need for HSI was documented in the National Research Council’s 2002 report, Making the Nation Safer. HSI is operated by Analytic Services Inc under contract W81XWH-04-D-0011
The primary mission of the HSI is to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Operating Elements in addressing important homeland security issues, particularly those requiring scientific, technical, and analytical expertise. The DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology is responsible for managing the HSI and other FFRDC matters for the Department.
The work requires an in-depth knowledge of homeland security mission objectives, operational concepts and requirements, strategies, resources, systems, and technologies and a comprehensive understanding of sponsor problems and perspectives. Accordingly, the HSI maintains a high-quality, interdisciplinary research staff dedicated solely to providing its sponsors with analyses and advice based on both long-standing experience (i.e., corporate memory) and state-of-the-art expertise in issues related to homeland security.1
Work performed by the HSI will
Be authoritative, objective, and free from conflicts of interest caused by involvement with and benefit from commercial or other interests;
Ensure confidentiality and protect sensitive homeland security, intelligence, and government planning information;
Ensure confidentiality and protect proprietary commercial information; and
Constitute high-quality research and advice.
The work will be responsive to sponsor needs as the HSI addresses issues of both long-term and immediate homeland security concern. The HSI research program is composed of projects of varying length, from quick-response analyses to intermediate length studies to multi-year efforts, in areas of established expertise. As implied above, the work will often require privileged access to information, including sensitive Government information and industry proprietary data not normally available to non-Government organizations.
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1HSI will also embed scientific analysts into Headquarters and Organizational Elements to help ensure that its work is topically relevant and applicable to solving the Department’s problems on a real time basis to the maximum extent possible.
