Where the Public and Private Sectors Converge

Another SVIP startup from Brisbane, Australia, female-founded FloodMapp, was awarded a flood modeling contract from the City of Boston in April to provide real-time flood monitoring. This technology will help Boston’s Emergency Operations Center target areas for evacuation and flood mitigation, support ongoing emergency response efforts with real-time mapping, and understand maximum flooding extent in order to distribute disaster relief and streamline damage assessment.

S&T’s work with these startup companies is force-multiplying; ultimately an investment in cutting-edge capabilities that are not only commercially sustainable, but that also meet the immediate needs of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) operational components. That is why events like Demo Week are so critical—the feedback given not only helps to shape the course of the R&D, but also helps to expand horizons and imagine new use cases.

This year, 36 SVIP startups, including Analytical AI and FloodMapp, presented their technologies in a new “Shark Tank” style format, where a panel of experts asked them questions live on-stage in front of an audience. The “sharks” brought a blend of operational, technical, and business expertise to challenge the companies and help the audience of startups, federal employees, and prospective financiers better understand the technologies to help identify potential collaborative opportunities. Separate expert panels judged different topic areas, including sensors, healthtech, computer vision, data analytics, cybersecurity, digital credentials, and digital wallets. The sharks asked probing questions to ensure participants had anticipated a pathway to commercialization and the potential challenges.

Beyond the pitch sessions, additional Demo Week panels featured thought leadership discussions among DHS experts and provided insights to startups on how to engage with the public sector. In one panel, Partnership Pathways for DHS R&D and Commercialization, startups heard from representatives from other Office of Industry Partnership (OIP) programs about a variety of ways to engage with the Directorate, including through prize competitions, the Homeland Security Startup Studio, and the DHS Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

“We’re hyper-focused on ensuring that we have a portfolio of programs that are available to innovators of all sizes. So, we don’t want to just do all small businesses, we don’t want just all large businesses. We’re really focused on diversifying the people that we work with, the companies we work with, bringing new ideas to the Department, and working with our end users to get new technologies into their hands. And developing a commercial market for Homeland Security technologies,” said Megan Mahle, director of OIP.

As part of the AI-focused Empowering the Technologists Who are Securing Our Future panel, DHS Chief Technology Officer David Larrimore lauded the startups as the ones “building products people need, not just what will sell.” Another panelist, Graham Dufault, general counsel for the nonprofit ACT|The App Association, said he is really impressed with SVIP for its public-private engagement model and hinted that DHS is further along than other federal agencies in developing these types of programs.

“One of the really important things that SVIP has done was to build bridges to companies that may not necessarily have a federal client base in mind but that have a customer base that they’re looking to serve,” Dufault said. “They’re developing a software tool or device that’s going to be really amazing for this use case but also, with a couple of tweaks, would be incredible put into service as something for [DHS].”

During her keynote speech, Jody M. Hardin, executive director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations Innovation and Strategy Directorate, welcomed this, saying that “as quickly as technology is advancing, we also need insights from experts like all of you on how technology can be used by our adversaries and help us anticipate and close those gaps.”

Oh reminded the audience that the goal of the event is to create a “dynamic space for collaboration, discussion and discovery.” When she asked for a show of hands of how many had connected with someone during Demo Week that could become a potential collaborator, hands shot up across the room.

“This is what I’m here for, this is what I want to happen,” she said. “Holding this event in Washington, DC, is fantastic. We’re bringing the startups and the agencies together, and I think a lot of magic can come from it.”

To learn more about SVIP’s 2024 Demo Week and access recordings, please visit the Demo Week Event Page. For related media inquiries, contact STMedia@hq.dhs.gov.