It’s the start of a new year, and like most people, I’ve been thinking about resolutions for 2018. Even though it’s early January, DHS is actually in the midst of our Leadership Year campaign. The entire department is focusing on how leadership can positively impact our efforts to protect the homeland, and striving to promote a culture of strong leadership at all levels.
As part of DHS Leadership Year, I want to share with you one of my resolutions for S&T in 2018: The CHAMPS campaign.
S&T wants to continually improve our role as a leader in providing technical solutions to the entire homeland security enterprise. CHAMPS is a collection of principles we are committed to embodying in 2018 and beyond, which will help S&T further improve our ability to provide end-users with the tools and knowledge to carry out their vital missions.
Here are the values that make up CHAMPS:
C – Component/Customer Driven
First and foremost, we serve the men and women who keep the nation safe, whether they’re in the field or serving a supporting role. S&T understands that the best technical solutions are those that are useful to the people who will eventually use them, so we’re going to continue striving to make them our focus in 2018.
H – Homeland Security Enterprise Focused
S&T is the unique position of serving the entire homeland security enterprise, which is comprised of many essential and distinct missions. One of our goals with CHAMPS is to improve how we work with DHS components to make sure their particular research and development needs are met efficiently while maximizing impact.
A – Agile and Responsive
As a scientific organization, S&T understands the importance of using quick development cycles that incorporate feedback to ensure our products fully address end-user priorities. We bring together the business and operator communities to help ensure technologies and knowledge products are deployed in a timely manner while maintaining the highest quality standards.
M – Make Use of Existing Technologies
We’re going to continue the practice of looking for ways to adjust exiting technologies to meet current and evolving stakeholder needs. Based on our discussions with people in the field, S&T fully appreciates how tweaking an existing piece of tech can make a big difference in a short timeframe.
P – Plan for Transfer/Commercialization
Our technical solutions can only make a difference when they’re deployed to the people who need them. Getting the right tools into the right hands at the right time is a big priority for S&T in 2018, and in the years to come.
S – Science and Engineering Excellence
S&T’s staff and partners bring an enormous amount of talent to the challenge of keeping the nation safe from evolving threats. We’re going to continue fostering their expertise this year on emerging issues such as unmanned aerial vehicles, cryptocurrency security, and more.
I’m very excited to see how CHAMPS helps S&T continue improving our ability to secure the nation through technical innovation. You can follow our progress on our website, or through our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. I hope you all have a safe and happy new year!