	Background

		DHS R&D Roles and Responsibilities

The Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, designates the Under  Secretary for Science and Technology as responsible for coordinating all  R&D activities of DHS. Overview of Past R&D Management Challenges

Questions have been raised about S&T’s ability to demonstrate the  impact of its investments—in terms of value, tangible products, and  advances toward the homeland security mission. Since DHS began operations in 2003, we have made multiple  recommendations designed to improve DHS efforts to manage and  oversee R&D efforts, as described later in this report. DHS Has Obligated More Than $1 Billion per Fiscal Year from 2010 through 2017 for Conducting R&D That Aligns with Department Mission Areas across Seven DHS Components

		R&D Funding Amounts

DHS is required to report department-wide R&D-related funding to OMB  on an annual basis. Based on our analysis of OMB’s federal obligations data, we identified  R&D-related obligations data for DHS components for fiscal years 2010  through 2017. Additionally, S&T obligated nearly 80 percent of all DHS R&D  funds for that time period. According to S&T officials, S&T generally leads or funds R&D projects by  providing technology and knowledge products for four homeland security  areas:
Disaster resilience. Improving technological capabilities during all  stages of critical incident response;
Border security. Improving the nation’s ability to detect, interdict and  prosecute illegal activity across air, land and sea. Cybersecurity. The other six DHS components with R&D budget authority typically lead  and fund R&D projects tailored to support their specific operational  requirements and respective missions. S&T Implemented R&D Coordination Mechanism and Directives to Strengthen Collaboration Across DHS, but Challenges Remain in Ensuring Participation

		DHS Established a Process to Coordinate R&D Efforts

DHS established its IPT process in August 2015 as the central  mechanism to coordinate R&D efforts across the department, in  accordance with recommendations we made in 2012. Overall, components reported that the IPT process enhanced  collaboration and improved visibility into R&D efforts across DHS. DHS Issued R&D Coordination Directives but Faces Challenges in Ensuring IPT Participation

In 2012, we found that, among other things, DHS had not developed a  policy defining who was responsible for coordinating R&D within the  department and what processes should be used to coordinate it. Current non-participation by CWMD, which has the second-largest R&D  budget within DHS and obligated approximately 17 percent of DHS R&D  funds, or $176 million in fiscal year 2017, poses risk of R&D project  information not being shared among components. However, DHS guidance documents require that components  participate in the IPT process. By ensuring that all required components  participate in the IPT process, DHS can help S&T maintain visibility of  R&D projects in order to fulfill its statutory role of coordinating R&D. S&T Has Taken Steps to Identify and Track DHS’s R&D Project Information, But Efforts Are Disjointed or Do Not Align with DHS Guidance

Since 2012, S&T has taken steps to identify and track information related  to ongoing R&D projects across DHS, and in 2017, DHS developed a  common appropriations structure that standardized R&D budgeting  processes across the department. As described below, these  challenges and limitations include difficulty in collecting and integrating  R&D project information, and reporting that is not comprehensive. By developing a mechanism  to address challenges and limitations related to the collection, integration,  and comprehensiveness of R&D data across the department, S&T can  improve its visibility on R&D efforts across DHS in accordance with its  role as DHS’s coordinator of R&D efforts. However, DHS is not well positioned to integrate the results because  limited customer feedback information is collected and analyzed. Customer interviews. As a result of the  limited customer feedback information that is collected and analyzed,  DHS is unable to more fully understand its customers’ perceptions and  experience to allow it to assess the benefits and performance of its R&D  efforts. S&T officials indicated that they  have strong collaborative relationships with components; however, it is  important that required components fully participate in the IPT process in  order for S&T to maintain visibility of R&D projects and successfully fulfill  its statutory role of coordinating R&D and to help reduce the risk of  potential duplication of R&D efforts across the department. Without a  mechanism that aligns information sources and results in comprehensive  and accurate data, among other things, DHS may not have the  information it needs to make informed decisions about R&D investments. With regard to our second recommendation, that the Deputy Secretary of  the Department of Homeland Security should develop a mechanism for  collecting R&D project data in order to complete a comprehensive  accounting of R&D projects DHS-wide, DHS stated that S&T’s Office of  Science & Engineering will revise the relevant DHS directive to include  requirements for data collection on all R&D projects across DHS to  ensure alignment of the appropriate data elements and existing guidance. Appendix I: Overview of the Science and Technology Directorate’s Research and Development Projects

The following appendix provides a general overview of the Department of  Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)  research and development (R&D) projects and programs that support the  following homeland security mission areas: (1) border security; (2)  disaster resilience; (3) critical incidents, and (4) cybersecurity. DHS S&T seeks to help improve community resilience to natural disasters  through technology and tools that support planning, decision making and  mitigation efforts.
Why GAO Did This Study

Conducting R&D on technologies is vital to enhancing the security of the nation. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, designates S&T as responsible for coordinating all R&D activities of DHS. Questions have been raised about S&T's ability to demonstrate the impact of its R&D investments. Since DHS began operations in 2003, GAO has made recommendations to help improve DHS's efforts to coordinate and oversee R&D.
GAO was asked to review DHS's R&D efforts. This report examines (1) how much DHS has obligated for R&D and what types of R&D DHS conducts, (2) to what extent S&T coordinates R&D across DHS, and (3) how, if at all, DHS identifies and tracks R&D efforts.
GAO reviewed documentation from DHS related to the conduct, coordination, tracking, and evaluation of R&D projects. GAO interviewed DHS officials with responsibilities related to, among other things, R&D financial reporting, performance evaluation, and the IPT process, including officials from the 10 DHS components that participate in the IPTs. GAO also reviewed DHS R&D budget and obligation data from fiscal years 2010 through 2017.

What GAO Found

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) obligated more than $10 billion for research and development (R&D) from fiscal years 2010 through 2017. Seven DHS components have budget authority to conduct R&D, and the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) obligated nearly 80 percent of all DHS R&D funds during this time period. These components conduct a wide range of R&D, from cybersecurity to border security projects. S&T generally leads or funds R&D projects by providing technology and knowledge products to support four homeland security mission areas:
Disaster resilience . Improving community resilience to natural disasters through technology and tools;
Critical incidents . Improving response technological capabilities;
Border security . Improving the nation's ability to detect, interdict and prosecute illegal activity across air, land and sea.
Cybersecurity . Developing technologies and tools to secure systems and critical infrastructures against cyberattacks.
S&T strengthened its R&D coordination efforts across DHS, but some challenges remain. In 2015, DHS established an R&D coordination mechanism, to be led by S&T, and in 2017 issued R&D coordination-related guidance. Specifically, to improve coordination, DHS established an Integrated Product Team (IPT) process to serve as the key R&D coordination mechanism within DHS. All ten DHS components that GAO interviewed stated that the IPT process improved visibility into DHS R&D efforts. However, the component that obligated approximately 17 percent of DHS R&D funds in 2017, or $176 million, did not participate in the IPT process in 2018, as required. Nonparticipation poses a risk to R&D coordination efforts across DHS, including R&D project information not being shared among components. Furthermore, ensuring that all required components participate in the IPT process would help S&T maintain visibility of R&D projects in order to fulfill its statutory role of coordinating R&D, and mitigate the risk of potential duplication of effort.
S&T, in its coordination role for DHS, uses disparate information sources to identify and track R&D project information and faces challenges to track progress and other information for ongoing R&D projects. For example, R&D project information is stored in multiple information sources leading to difficulty in integrating complete R&D project information and resulting in reporting that is not comprehensive. By developing a mechanism to address these challenges, S&T can further improve its efforts to report and analyze R&D project information, and have improved visibility on R&D efforts across DHS. GAO also identified challenges in collecting information related to R&D performance. Among other things, DHS is not well positioned to integrate the results and share lessons learned because limited R&D customer feedback information is collected and analyzed. Of the seven DHS components with R&D budget authority, two reported having formal customer feedback mechanisms. As a result, DHS is unable to more fully understand its customers' perceptions and experience which would allow DHS to better assess the performance of its R&D efforts.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is making four recommendations, with which DHS concurred, including that DHS: 1) ensure all components participate in the IPT process, 2) develop a mechanism that aligns R&D project tracking sources, and 3) collect feedback from R&D customers.