RIT Teams Close-Up
In this issue, you will get a closer look at the four Hacking for Homeland Security (H4HS) teams from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and see how they're progressing in their innovation journey during the current Fall 2022 semester.
Hacking for Homeland Security is no simple task. This is a program that requires students to commit hours each week to interviews, research, and hypothesis testing - and their hard work pays off. H4HS was recently mentioned in the TSA Innovation Doctrine as a program that "connects problems to external partners committed to expanding the transportation security marketplace with viable solutions.”
Click here for more information on the three problems being worked at Texas A&M University.
Fall 2022 Statistics:
Rochester Institute for Technology - Meet the Teams
The student teams at RIT are investigating problems from four unique components of DHS. The teams just conducted their mid-course observations and impressed the audience with fleshed out mission model canvases and thought provoking insights from beneficiary interviews. The student teams have greatly benefited from highly engaged sponsors and mentors, and they are well on their way to developing their minimum viable products to present at the end of the semester.
CISA Next-Gen 911 Team
In a world where phone calls are becoming a thing of the past, Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) call takers are now venturing into new territory by receiving multimedia information (videos, text messages, video calls) from traumatic events through the Next Generation 911 (NG911) system. While exciting for callers, PSAP call takers are concerned they will be overwhelmed with the added multimedia information causing possible burnout or even PTSD. The NG911 student team is on a mission to find a way for call takers to process the new multimedia information quickly enough to triage and deploy to dispatchers.
The student team’s original solution pathway involved using AI to correctly identify text-to-911 images with 90% accuracy. However, as they conducted 27 interviews with beneficiaries and various end-users, they realized that PSAP infrastructure and coordination could be the real culprit. The students' new proposal is to test hypotheses around the support of the NG911 system nationwide in order to support differing community and infrastructure needs, resulting in a robust deployment and adoption of critical new technology.
FEMA Climate Change and Effects on Natural Disaster Team
In the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) New England region, natural disasters can come in all shapes and sizes; including tornadoes, floods, and blizzards. To make matters worse, these disasters are becoming more complex and happening at a higher frequency due to the ever-evolving threat of climate change. The Climate Change and Effects on Natural Disaster Team partnered with the FEMA Region I Planning Team to figure out a way to evaluate natural disaster risks in New England urban environments to anticipate long-term climate change-induced disaster impact.
As the student team conducted interviews with beneficiaries, they realized it would be better to focus on how resilient the affected communities are rather than trying to predict an unpredictable disaster influenced by climate change. They are currently working on a measurement model around township data to see if it can withstand damages due to climate emergencies. The team learned that during the decision making process, the decision makers don’t have access or transparency into township data, which would improve resource allocation. Their goal: preventing and averting damage to private property and public infrastructure and aiding the readiness of local governments and their disaster response teams.
HSI Data [for] Migration Team
Every year, the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Parole and Law Enforcements Program Unit (PLEPU) receives around 4000 requests to grant immediate temporary admission (parole) to individuals with humanitarian or law enforcement needs who are not U.S. citizens or residents. Humanitarian and law enforcement needs can range from attending a funeral to aiding with a law enforcement investigation.The approval process for these parole requests should only take 30 days, but due to time consuming data gathering inefficiencies, the process is currently being delayed by an additional 90-120 days. Students on the Data [for] Migration team were entrusted with finding a way to efficiently record and process temporary parole data to expedite the temporary entry of non-U.S. citizens into the United States.
After building a workflow of the typical parole application process, the student team utilized data from paper records to develop a digitizing solution to standardize the scanning process, direct data loss prevention methods, and create searchable data to link database artifacts to unique identifiers per application. However, after interviewing end users, they determined that this format for databases already exists. This caused the students to pivot on their solution and focus on integrating data from different systems and solution adoption within the organization, rather than possible technology issues.
TSA Translation to Manifestation Team
Individual screenings by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security officers are a common occurrence when going through airport security. The TSA officer provides verbal pre-screening guidance and walks you through the process with clear and concise information. But if you are a non-native English speaker, this process can be jarring, confusing, and time-consuming. TSA asked the Translation to Manifestation Team to find a way to efficiently communicate with non-English speaking passengers and improve the passenger experience by reducing the time spent conducting individual screenings.
The Translation to Manifestation team learned that when Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) encounter a non-English speaker in the airport security line, they open up a very thick binder with instructions that don’t allow for clear communication of the non-English speakers. This causes a delay in the security line, confusion from the passenger, and puts the TSOs in an awkward position with limited communication capabilities. Their present solution includes creating a TSA adaptable language reference system using multiple different types of visual and auditory tools that would facilitate those that are non-native English speakers, are deaf or hard of hearing, or have other communication barriers. The team realized that language barriers exist across a broad spectrum of travelers, and a potential solution could be applicable in a variety of settings. The team is currently working on a small-scale solution and pilot program to, hopefully, test live at Helena Airport.
Final Presentations
While mid-course presentations have just wrapped up, students will be presenting their final project reports before you know it. If you are interested in these teams' journeys and want to hear more about their fantastic solutions, please send a request to h4hs@bmnt.com to receive an invite to final presentations. RIT's final presentations are scheduled for December 13th at 7:00pm EST, and Texas A&M will hold their presentations on December 1st at 3:30pm EST.
For more information about the program, future events, and how to participate in an upcoming semester, visit h4homelandsecurity.us.