DHS-FY19-SBIR-PreSolicitation The Department of Homeland Security DHS Small Business Innovation Research SBIR Program comprised of the Science and Technology S T Directorate’s SBIR Program and the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction CWMD Office SBIR Program invites small business concerns to review this pre-solicitation notice which is intended to lead to the FY19 DHS SBIR Phase I solicitation This notice is not a solicitation or Request for Proposals This notice is merely an opportunity for interested parties to comment on or request information about the attached topic areas THIS IS A PRE-SOLICITATION IT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Pertinent information for the pending solicitation topic areas can be found in the attached FY 19 SBIR Topic Areas document The pre-solicitation period is from November 30 2018 through December 18 2018 During the pre-solicitation period technical questions concerning the topics should be directed towards the Technical Point of Contact POC for each topic listed in the FY 19 SBIR Topic Areas document During this pre-solicitation period interested parties have an opportunity to contact topic authors via email to ask technical questions about specific technical topics attached to this notice Telephone inquiries will not be addressed Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic's requirements Potential offerors are prohibited from seeking advice or guidance on its solution approach or submitting any materials No further contact between offerors and Technical Points of Contact shall occur after 5pm EST on December 18 2018 The Government anticipates release of the final solicitation on or about December 19 2018 It is mandatory that potential offerors be registered on the following areas SBIR Portal https sbir2 st dhs gov U S Small Business Administration's SBA Company Registry Database http sbir gov registration System for Award Management SAM www SAM gov Only small business as defined in the Small Business Administration SBA SBIR Policy Directive are eligible to respond 1 7 0 7 1 Research Topics S T Directorate Topic The following are the topics for the FY19 1 S T Directorate’s SBIR Program H-SB019 1-001 - Reach-Back Capability for Fielded Rapid DNA Systems H-SB019 1-002 - ICAM On-the-Fly H-SB019 1-003 - On Body Power Module for First Responders H-SB019 1-004 – Modelling-based Design of Sensors for Chemical Detection in Complex Environment H-SB019 1-005 - Synthetic Training Data for Explosive Detection Machine Learning Algorithms H-SB019 1-006 - Cybersecurity Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Lessons Learned Tool H-SB019 1-007 - Network Modeling for Risk Assessment H-SB019 1-008 - Blockchain Applications for Homeland Security Forensic Analytics Specific details for each topic are included in Appendix A 7 2 CWMD Office Topics The following are the topics for the FY19 1 CWMD SBIR Program H-SB019 1-009 - Detector Integration with Current and Emerging Networked Systems H-SB019 1-010 - Unmanned Aerial System Autonomous Search of Limited Area for Radiological Threats Specific details for each topic are included in Appendix A 2 APPENDIX A – RESEARCH TOPIC DESCRIPTIONS SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-001 TITLE Reach-Back Capability for Fielded Rapid DNA Systems TECHNOLOGY AREAS Enhanced Border Security Prevention of Human Trafficking and Smuggling Multimodal Biometric Collection OBJECTIVE Development of an accredited DHS reach-back capability to review results from fielded Rapid DNA systems using the Office of Biometric Identity Management OBIM DNA Store Match Share capability DESCRIPTION The Department of Homeland Security DHS Science and Technology Directorate S T developed Rapid DNA technology under a prior Small Business Innovative Research SBIR program to provide family relationship verifications in the field a capability that no other biometric provides Rapid DNA is an innovative technology that reduces the testing and analysis time for Deoxyribonucleic Acid DNA from the classical three to six months down to 90 minutes using a printer-size portable device Rapid DNA also internally analyses the DNA profiles and with OBIM Store Match Share software can verify family relationship claims of biological relatedness kinship This has direct application to improving processes and reducing fraud in immigration human trafficking smuggling at the borders and for reunification of families following a mass casualty event This SBIR topic builds on the established Rapid DNA capability adding the necessary capability to provide for reach-back review of Rapid DNA results in an accredited environment DHS S T has had a significant role in developing overseeing testing and evaluating the Rapid DNA technology and it is now commercially available and ready to be implemented Better than 90% of the time Rapid DNA produces a DNA profile cable of supporting a match and the instrument returns a green checkmark But the remaining 8% of the time the profiles receive either a yellow or red flag and need to be reviewed Some of these yellow or red flags are due to issues with the DNA profile that will not impact the kinship analysis and some are due to processing issues by the technology Either way DHS needs an ability to reach-back to a DNA analyst to review the DNA profiles and to re-run a DNA sample when necessary The DNA analyst and the facility also need to be accredited so that the fielded Rapid DNA results and those of the reach-back capability are shown to be repeatable and accurate to stand up in court if challenged The DHS Customs and Border Protection CBP Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate LSSD has multiple regional laboratories and satellite offices for the processing of multiple forensic sample types but does not currently have a human DNA laboratory We are seeking any innovative alternative solutions that would provide a reach-back capability for fielded Rapid DNA systems anticipating that the developed solution would ultimately transition into the LSSD laboratory for long-term operational support to DHS field components 3 The research into potential reach-back solutions would need to address the analysis of innovative or potential solutions to provide reach-back support for Rapid DNA the interface an analyst uses to review and annotate Rapid DNA field results the use of DNA data sharing standards the accreditation of the reach back capability location staffing costs for the reach-back capability and the eventual transition of the new capability to DHS LSSD facilities Once the alternative reach-back solutions are proposed a pilot solution would be developed to implement the reach back capability This would include specifying and acquiring the appropriate technology developing the detailed documentation to establish and maintain accreditation researching and developing training materials establishing performance metrics and risk mitigation recommendations and measurement plans and addressing access and privacy protection solutions PHASE I The offeror shall research the feasibility of providing a reach-back solution for fielded Rapid DNA systems A Phase I final technical report shall be submitted addressing the analysis of potential solutions to reach-back support for Rapid DNA the use of DNA data sharing standards the accreditation of the reach back facility or laboratory facility location staffing costs and the eventual transition of the new capability to DHS LSSD facilities PHASE II Phase II continues the research that began in Phase I and develops a pilot solution to implement the reach back capability This includes specifying and acquiring the appropriate technology for an analyst to review and annotate Rapid DNA results developing the detailed documentation to establish and maintain laboratory or facility accreditation researching and developing staff training materials establishing performance metrics and risk mitigation recommendations and measurement plans and addressing facility access and privacy protection solutions Deliverables include monthly progress reports a final technical report detailing the developed solutions and a prototype reach-back capability that connects to at least one government provided Rapid DNA instrument PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS Phase III would transition the pilot solution into a DHS LSSD laboratory or other Government operational environment that would provide the ongoing operational reach-back for fielded Rapid DNA systems All technical and operational policies and procedures would be established and validated and accreditation of the solution would be achieved This will directly support DHS in the establishment of DNA as a biometric that supports family relationship testing for immigration border patrol human trafficking smuggling prevention and reunification of families following mass casualty events State and local law enforcement medical examiners and disaster preparedness agencies are all evaluating the use of Rapid DNA in their operations This reach-back capability is necessary in all of those applications to ensure that their solutions are validated and accredited and that a human analyst has the ability to review the results 4 REFERENCES 1 Rapid DNA Fact Sheet https www dhs gov publication rapid-dna 2 Rapid DNA Snapshot Article https www dhs gov science-andtechnology news 2017 06 16 snapshot-rapid-dna-technology-makes-verifyingrelationships 3 Rapid DNA News https www dhs gov science-and-technology rapid-dna KEY WORDS Identity Management Biometrics DNA Kinship Accreditation Reach-back Support TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Christopher Miles christopher miles@hq dhs gov 5 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-002 TITLE ICAM On-the-Fly TECHNOLOGY AREAS ICAM Identity Proofing Automatically Provisioning OBJECTIVE Develop demonstrate an Identity Credential Access Management ICAM solution that will allow all first responders supporting a multi-jurisdictional event to be able to safely and securely share information DESCRIPTION The Department of Homeland Security DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s S T Project Responder 5 Report identified key capabilities to help first responders be more effective in their mission Among the findings included the need to securely share information validate responders from other organizations and securely maintain records These challenges only increase as responders rely on more data There is a critical need for responders to securely validate users and share information ICAM principles can mitigate these challenges ICAM is a framework of policies built into an organization’s IT infrastructure that allows system owners to have assurance that the right person is accessing the right information at the right time for the right reason First Responders need to safely and securely share information between jurisdictions but first responder organizations do not currently have federations set up to aid in information sharing Instead during multi-jurisdictional responses organization might be forced to manually provision an un-vetted new user or take days to vet a new user's identity and certificates Lead agencies require quick and secure solutions to vet identities and credentials in real time as well as auto-provision users into information sharing applications ICAM On-the-Fly would allow new users to show up to assist in a public safety event bringing their own credential their own device and the role they are to provide during the event Fundamentally ICAM On-The-Fly must  Perform Quick Identity Proofing e g validate that the user is who they says they are  Validate applicable certifications and attributes required to access the information to be shared e g EMT Certified sworn law enforcement  Automatically Provision register New Users  Be built using open standards to preserve interoperability  Be cross platform iOS Android compatible and  Recognize a broad array of credential attributes in diverse environments i e multiple types of LDAP Active Directory etc PHASE I During this phase the SBIR performer will conduct a technical analysis and propose a development road map for constructing an ICAM On-The-Fly solution The technical analysis will identify the state-of-the-art identity proofing application validation and automatic provisioning technologies using its own or industry R D resources This technical analysis must identify the technical gaps that the performer will incorporate as part of its proposed solution architecture At a minimum the performer shall cover the following 6    Identification of Public Safety stakeholder requirements Evaluation of current services tools and commercial capabilities Determination of open standards and connectors to enable interoperability to maintain compatibility with NIST SP 800-63-3 The development roadmap to construct an ICAM On-The-Fly system must show the steps necessary to produce a minimum viable product MVP including at a minimum    A system architecture inclusive of multifactor authentication using open standards such as FIDO U2F and NIST SP 800-63A built to at least IAL2 remote proofing A complete set of system policies including but not limited to credential attestations to be harmonized across entities and aggregate and weighted values for credentials being vetted from multiple truth sources and A development work plan clearly demonstrating the path to completion PHASE II Phase II continues the research that began in Phase I and will deliver a prototype implementation designed to meet the ICAM On-The-Fly needs The prototype will be demonstrated in test and evaluation in an operational exercise to demonstrate the capability At a minimum Phase II should include the following     A MVP Build proof of concepts to integrate commercially available products with the MVP Simulate and demonstrate an operational environment Document implementation guides lessons learned and custom code The final technical report detailing the technical analysis and proposed solution architecture PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS Phase III may include further technical development to address gaps discovered during the test and evaluation and further end-user feedbacks The research and development efforts from Phase III will results in the commercial or government application in which at least one agency will take delivery of the tool and its services Example may include   Delivery of the automated tool via network-as-a-service or software-as-a-service to a designated public safety agency for end-user application Standalone tool delivered to designated commercial or public safety agency with standard tool training and technical support REFERENCES 1 FIDO U2F - https fidoalliance org download 2 NIST SP 800-63 - https pages nist gov 800-63-3 3 NIST SP 800-63A - https pages nist gov 800-63-3 sp800-63a html 4 NIST SP 800-63-3 - https pages nist gov 800-63-3 sp800-63-3 html 5 NIST SP 800-53 - https nvd nist gov 800-53 7 KEY WORDS Identity Credentials Access Management Multifactor Authentication Federation Cyber Security Information Sharing TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Norman Speicher norman k speicher@hq dhs gov 8 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-003 TITLE On Body Power Module for First Responders TECHNOLOGY AREAS Communications Sensors Internet Of Things IoT Power Systems Batteries Rechargeable OBJECTIVE Develop a module that can power charge and provide effective power management of all on-body electronics including sensors communications systems and peripheral devices for all first responder mission areas including EMS fire and law enforcement DESCRIPTION First responders will need to carry many more devices such as sensors environmental physiological monitoring hazard IoT devices in addition to their cell phones and radios and peripheral devices e g heads up displays that require power Each of these devices may have different power requirement e g USB USB-C Apple microUSB and may need to be charged at different intervals depending on battery life and use Requiring first responders to charge and track battery levels for all these devices would be an additional burden and work load The innovation sought here is to develop a power module for first responders PMFR that would service all the current and emerging requirements of on-body devices The Power Module would provide long-term exchangeable and rechargeable battery power to the various modules for extended use Currently DHS is aware of some power modules battery pack that have been developed for Department of Defense DoD applications but none for the first responder civilian applications It is anticipated that in the future if these power modules are deployed ubiquitously then sensors and peripheral devices no longer need built-in power systems and can rely on the PMFR for power Use of external power subsystems would then reduce the costs size and form factor of sensors and peripheral devices The PMFR should be  Flexible to support a number of devices and power requirements IoT devices sensor modules cellular and radio systems  Swappable swap out a unit with a low charge with a fully charged device ideally hot swappable  Portable low size and weight for use on day to day applications and for carrying  Low cost objective $50 threshold $100 for non-intrinsic models  Available for different applications intrinsically safe for fire applications or standard ruggedized for EMS or law enforcement IP68 or CSA for intrinsic applications  Operate for 24 hours objective or 8-12 hours threshold  Rechargeable through 110 Volts or 12 volts from vehicle  Capable of providing battery status report run-time remaining and alert when charge falls below a threshold  Capable of using standard battery or batteries for backup  Capable of detecting and reporting modules connected to the Power Module and provide battery status 9  Power status application with low-power alert function PHASE I Phase I will have the following outputs  Determine current and future power requirements for first responder applications by assessing what equipment may be connected and power requirements  Develop an architecture that uses as reference the Next Generation First Responder handbook  Develop a design and proof of concept including defining size dimensions and weight and form factor design should account for minimal impact to user profile  Propose battery type and safety considerations  Define packaging and specifications for both the intrinsically safe and standard configuration IP68 CSA 157  Develop a cost model to determine the approximate costs of each of the two types intrinsically safe and standard cost model should also define required volume discounts PHASE II Develop a minimum of 10 standard and 5 intrinsically safe CSA power modules During Phase II detailed testing shall be conducted to assess and demonstrate performance of the unit both in a laboratory environment and field demonstration to assess form fit function Detailed test report on charge discharge cycles along with battery life should be documented Final report should include an evaluation of the prototypes against all the requirements documented above and in Phase I PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS Applications of this product and prototypes should provide the capability of low cost power module for use by all first responders federal state and local This product could also expand and be used for DoD applications as well REFERENCES 1 NGFR Integration Handbook version 3 0 developed by DHS S T https www dhs gov publication st-frg-ngfr-integration-handbook-version-20 2 Smart battery definition http smartbattery org specs sbdat110 pdf 3 CSA C22 2 NO 157 Intrinsically safe and non-incendive equipment or use in hazardous locations KEY WORDS Power Systems Batteries Rechargeable portable power TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Sridhar Kowdley Sridhar kowdley@hq dhs gov 10 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-004 TITLE Modeling-based Design of Sensors for Chemical Detection in Complex Environment TECHNOLOGY AREAS chemical detection chemical sensors molecular-based modeling Monte Carlo OBJECTIVE Develop sensors for chemical analyte detection based on existing theoretical models and compare their selectivity and sensitivity characteristics with the model predictions DESCRIPTION DHS and first responders need low cost high performance sensors that can be used to detect chemical materials in different environments A persistent problem in chemical sensing is the inability of the sensor system to reliably address complex sensing tasks and environments Such conditions are regularly encountered in situations involving environmental monitoring industrial process control toxic chemical and fire detection Often these tasks are centered on the detection of chemical signatures rather than individual chemical compounds However detection of individual analytes is often complicated significantly by environmental conditions that exist in backgrounds with multiple potentially interfering chemical species This can lead to surprisingly poor performance in real-world environments after excellent results have been demonstrated in the laboratory Hence understanding the surrounding details of a chemical sensing problem is critical to finding a solution together with knowing and addressing the target analytes themselves Different types of sensors a large number of them being based on molecular sensing capability and coupled with nanostructured surfaces are being developed However most of these sensor developments are empirical and their performance particularly the interplay between sensitivity and selectivity cannot be predicted until the sensors are fully tested in a real-world environment The costs to the user are therefore quite substantial for each sensor development before an objective assessment with regards to their usability can be made On the other hand a modelingbased approach which would allow design of surfaces as well as the sensing device diagnostics could allow for an inexpensive user friendly approach to designing sensor materials that can be integrated with electronics to produce any type of sensor – chemical or biological with parts per trillion ppt sensitivity and fast seconds response times The reduction in cost compared to the current sensor development approaches which are empirical in design is expected to be at least an order of magnitude Many current sensor developments involve different types of polymers like those used in surface acoustic wave SAW mode or molecular imprinted polymer MIP configurations A recurring problem with regards to sensing of chemical vapors is the issue of addressing complex sensing tasks and environments that are routinely encountered in most real-world situations Even detection of individual analytes is almost always complicated significantly by these unavoidable environmental conditions This can lead to surprisingly poor performance in environments relevant to first responders 1 2 The same selectivity problem exists even in the case of arrays of sensors 1 Theoretically based strategies for design and optimization of chemical sensors are rarely adopted by sensor developers The same situation also exists for molecularly imprinted polymers Molecular imprinting is the process whereby a polymer matrix is cross-linked in the 11 presence of molecules with surface sites that can bind selectively to certain ligands on the polymer Recent theoretical work 3 4 has discussed a model that accounts for the key features of this molecular recognition approach Using a combination of analytical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations it has been shown that the model can account for the binding of rigid particles to an imprinted polymer matrix with valence-limited interactions It has also been shown as to how the binding multivalency and the polymer material properties affect the efficiency and selectivity of molecular imprinting These calculations also indicate pathways to formulate design criteria for optimal molecular imprinting While theoretical models for rational design of sensors and sensors arrays do exist there has not been any sensor development which is explicitly based on these models The goal of the project is to develop sensors based on the rational designs of the theoretical models and evaluate the sensor performance in both pristine and complex environments relevant to the needs of the user community PHASE I The Offeror shall design and develop one type of sensor based on the rational design of the sensor based on any one of the existing theoretical models 1-4 The Offeror shall demonstrate that the sensor can have high selectivity better than 0 1 parts per billion for the detection of chemical vapors of a chemical agent simulant or a toxic industrial chemical in the vapor phase The Offeror shall demonstrate that the sensitivity is not compromised by the simultaneous presence of three different types of interfering gas molecules The interfering gases should possess chemical physical or spectral properties similar to the target chemical vapor The matrix for success will be a demonstration of less than a factor of 10 reduction of sensitivity for the detection of the target chemical vapor in presence of the contaminant gases PHASE II The primary prototype to be developed in this project is the computational model that can be used in future sensor development efforts The Offeror must demonstrate the capability of the model by fabricating 8x8 sensor arrays with integrated measuring electronics The Offeror shall compare the sensor array response performance in terms of the response to different analytes and different contaminant gases specific identifies of which will be selected during Phase I The Offeror shall assess the sensitivity benefit when combining two or more sensors with the same sensitivity The goal of Phase II is to show that the sensor array is capable of detecting different types of chemical analytes with the same sensitivity in the simultaneous presence of different types of contaminant molecules Ten 10 prototype 8x8 sensor arrays shall be produced A major goal of the Phase II is to prove that by using the selected model future sensor design processes will be more efficient and reduce development time and costs In addition to the field testable prototype deliverables include a quad chart template will be provided a one pager template will be provided and monthly status calls A commercialization plan must be completed identifying specific customers completed outreach to those customers licensing requirements pricing and future upgrades PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS The results of this effort would establish a computational method to more efficiently design sensor materials significantly impacting the time and cost to development and commercialization of sensors for both chemical and biological environmental contaminants First responders have a need for detection systems for situational awareness as well as several DHS components e g Customs and Borders Protection United States Coast Guard used during daily operations 12 REFERENCES 1 Kevin Johnson and Adam Knapp “Selectivity Measure for Arrays of Non-Specific Sensors” Sensors and Actuators B 251 1076-1088 2017 2 Kevin Johnson and Susan L Rose-Pehrsson “Sensor Array Design for Complex Sensing Tasks” Ann Rev Anal Chem 8 14 1-14 24 2015 3 Tine Curk Jure Dobnikar and Daan Frenkel “Rational Design of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers” Soft Matter 12 35-44 2016 4 Dumitru Pavel Jolanta Lagowski and Carmela Jackson Lepage “Computationally Designed Monomers for Molecular Imprinting of Chemical Warfare Agents – Part V” Polymer 47 8389-8399 2006 5 Braden C Giordano and Greg E Collins “Synthetic Methods Applied to the Detection of Chemical Warfare Nerve Agents” Current Organic Chemistry 11 255-265 2007 KEY WORDS Chemical Sensor Rational design of sensor Model based sensor design Sensors for complex environment Molecular Imprinting of Polymer Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Angela M Ervin Ph D MBA PMP FRG angela ervin@hq dhs gov 13 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-005 TITLE Synthetic Training Data for Explosive Detection Machine Learning Algorithms TECHNOLOGY AREAS Millimeter-Wave MMW and X-Ray explosive detection systems passenger checkpoint checked baggage OBJECTIVE Development of methods for creating synthetic human subject baggage object models for creating realistic image-based machine learning training data DESCRIPTION Currently fielded explosive detection equipment uses electromagnetic signals such as X-rays or MMWs to interrogate passengers and their belongings Automatic algorithms process the images generated by the screening hardware either to clear the passenger property or to identify specific anomalies for further investigation The use of machine learning and deep learning approaches to develop these algorithms have shown significant promise in improving overall system performance The DHS S T TSA Passenger Screening Algorithm results showed the effectiveness of deep learning applied to passenger screening Development of the equipment and its associated detection algorithms is time consuming and expensive because system screening performance is difficult to accurately model Currently  Prototype systems must be built and tested to measure and understand the interaction of X-rays MMWs with explosives in various containment configurations  Development requires physical test articles to be fabricated or acquired Suitable test articles may be impossible to create if the explosives involved are unsafe to synthesize  If machine learning or deep learning algorithms are developed for detection many test articles must be created and scanned to build datasets for algorithm development training and testing This is particularly labor intensive in order to generate large representative datasets In order to accelerate the advancement of explosive detection equipment the DHS S T Directorate seeks to develop tools to create virtual models of human travelers their baggage and its contents These models  Should be representative of the stream of commerce  Should be capable of including simulated explosives and prohibited items  Should be able to be generated in large numbers many thousands or millions in a reasonable amount of time under 1 second per image  Should be useable by researchers and vendors to predict the performance of emerging explosive detection technologies and to train machine learning-based detection algorithms The predictions and training will make use of tools see for example https www1 aps anl gov science scientific-software that simulate the propagation of X-rays MMWs through simulated objects  Should be useable for assessing a system’s ability to detect emerging threats that are unsafe to synthesize  Should be useable for a variety of electromagnetic interrogation methods including synthetic aperture radar computed tomography and single and multi-view AT2 line scanners These technologies use transmission diffraction and phase contrast to detect explosives and prohibited items 14 The tools should  Include methods to create shape descriptions for explosives and other objects and methods to insert these items into representative scans The mathematical descriptions may be based on the union of geometric primitives polygon meshes and sampled threedimensional volumes  Include parametric descriptions for the features of explosives so that users do not require access to classified information  Be compatible with tools in the public domain for simulating X-ray MMW interactions with objects  Be compatible with script- or code-based algorithms targeting open-source multidimensional modeling software e g MakeHuman and Blender  Provide for a real-time means of dynamic configurability especially as regards the physical properties of virtual materials to be used in the modeling and the system’s input output file pathways e g use of “config files” PHASE I Applicable publicly and commercially available tools for X-ray and electromagnetic simulation as well as for generating stream of commerce objects shall be evaluated Initial simulations shall be performed combining selective tools with additional algorithms to determine whether data representative of existing human subject bags and cargo containers can be created Build a small number of simulated passengers and bags Write a project plan including system requirements technical approach estimated costs and schedule for Phase II The deliverables include technical reports reviewing available tools and describing how existing passengers and bags are matched and a project plan for Phase II PHASE II Develop software to simulate human subjects and checked baggage with all appropriate ancillaries clothing shoes hair and in the case of baggage typical contents Create at least 200 human subjects and 200 bags meeting the 1 second per image requirement Deliverables include prototype software for the simulation programs technical reports describing how the tools operate and how they were validated and mathematical descriptions of the simulated human subjects bags and contents and cargo containers and scripts for generating the models of human subjects ancillaries clothing shoes hair etc… virtual baggage and contents PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS The tools could be sold commercially for use by screening equipment vendors The provider could sell services to help vendors use the tools There will be on-going expenses to modify the tools based on user feedback DHS could supply the tools or test sets of simulated baggage created using the tools to vendors as part of future programs REFERENCES 1 Schmidt Tools For Simulating CT Scanners in Algorithm Development for Security Applications Eighth Workshop ADSA08 Automated Threat Recognition ATR Algorithms for Explosion Detection Systems Northeastern University Boston October 24-25 2012 http myfiles neu edu groups ALERT strategic_studies ALERT_ADSA08_final_report pdf 15 2 FORBILD phantoms standard for medical CT http www imp unierlangen de phantoms 3 Geant4 - a toolkit for the simulation of the passage of particles through matter http geant4 cern ch 4 Kak and Slaney Principles of Computerized Tomography IEEE Press released into the public domain at http www slaney org pct 5 DHS S T TSA Passenger Screening Algorithm Challenge http www kaggle com c passenger-screening-algorithm-challenge KEY WORDS x-ray millimeter-wave simulation computerized tomography diffraction synthetic data TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Karl Harris karl harris@hq dhs gov 16 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-006 TITLE Cybersecurity Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Lessons Learned Tool TECHNOLOGY AREAS Cybersecurity Information Sharing Risk Analysis OBJECTIVE Develop a collaboration tool for medium small organizations to help them identify key cybersecurity information and lessons-learned of most significance to them DESCRIPTION Organizations throughout the American economy and government are faced with designing and then operating cybersecurity risk management in a complicated and dynamic environment They have been provided with a useful starting point a cybersecurity risk management framework developed by NIST supported by DHS and filled out in some detail by different critical infrastructure sectors and organizations But sustaining risk management operations is more difficult as organizations must somehow blend a great deal of technical input vulnerability reports incident reports threat analysis technical guidance etc with their own organizational experience The cybersecurity “knowledge management” challenge is significant for any particular organization regardless of size or critical infrastructure domain Additionally several million organizations and companies across the country are faced with this challenge continuously Most information sharing systems assume that these many organizations and companies should report their cybersecurity experiences vertically to commercial and governmental centers which are to synthesize these various reports and report back analytical insight But what does not yet exist is a peer-to-peer version of this reporting activity where an organization can directly leverage related experiences of thousands of organizations and companies through a tool that can capture and report their own experiences and connect them with comparable experience of other organizations and companies to better help them understand and manage their cybersecurity risk The end product of this effort should address capabilities such as  Key internal risk assessment elements  The time dynamics of internal risk assessment elements  Outside context for these assessments vulnerabilities operating data etc  Multiple information sharing mechanisms one to one one to many collaboration drafts etc The key requirement is that this tool must be able to support enterprise consideration of cybersecurity risk by bringing into the process valuable insight from other enterprise’ consideration of risk PHASE I The expected focus of the Phase I effort is to assess A relevant knowledge management practices and capabilities and B peer-to-peer information sharing principles systems and experiences both with respect to the cybersecurity information sources and the technical and operating environment The Phase I effort must develop a tool design and architecture a technical CONOPS for how the tool would be used in realistic business environments and a development strategy that involves substantial operational participation i e how would Phase II be conducted in partnership with real companies and organizations and their 17 operational environments Phase I deliverables must include a final technical report addressing tool design architecture expected CONOPS and the proposed development strategy and a presentation addressing this need and work PHASE II The Phase II effort will develop the prototype peer-to-peer information sharing tool demonstrate pilot the use of this tool for 60-90 days by at least five small to medium sized organizations or companies and revise the tool design and architecture reflecting the Phase II experience Phase II deliverables will include a prototype tool a final technical report that includes both a revised tool design architecture and the initial operating experience of the five or more small to medium sized organizations and a revised presentation addressing this need and work PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS Phase III will include several different activities all of which are intended to expand awareness development and application of this capability via sustained user engagement  Further development of the tool both technical elements and operational experience and placing this tool out on GitHub for open use  Application of this tool to several different critical infrastructure sectors via Information Sharing Analysis Centers Organizations  Application of this tool to several different government organizational environments such as the Federal CISO Council  “Uptake” of this tool into existing commercial cybersecurity capabilities operating in the market now REFERENCES 1 https www us-cert gov Information-Sharing-Specifications-Cybersecurity 2 https www cisecurity org ms-isac ms-isac-toolkit 3 https its ny gov eiso local-government 4 https bc2m2 pnnl gov 5 https www cooperative com remagazine articles Pages Cybersecurity-Research-atNRECA aspx 6 http 130 18 86 27 faculty warkentin BIS9613papers Baskerville1991_EJIS_1_2_risk_an alysis pdf 7 https www hsdl org view did 808477 KEY WORDS Cybersecurity Information Sharing Peer-to-Peer Expert System Risk Assessment Lessons Learned TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Dr Christos Papadopoulos christos papadopoulos@hq dhs gov 18 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-007 TITLE Network Modeling for Risk Assessment TECHNOLOGY AREAS modeling of systems risk assessment counterfactual analysis OBJECTIVE Develop models of networks to identify risks associated with the network tool development for counterfactual analysis what-if scenarios and risk assessment DESCRIPTION Networks and systems of networks are ubiquitous in modern technology used throughout society today Identification of risk in these networks often requires a model to be developed for the network or system of networks These models range from the simple to the mathematically complicated models used for large networks Some risks such as cascading failures in a network are difficult to identify The goal for this effort is to develop the tools necessary to identify these risks with a potential to identify mitigation strategies with an initial focus on emergency communications networks The tool should be capable of including information about the network such as number and type of nodes appropriate labels for nodes and known risks or defects for the network The tools will also be capable of performing counterfactual or “what-if” analysis to identify risks in the network such as the potential for cascading failures The tool shall be able to incorporate information about the network or system from the PARIDINE project PARIDINE is intended to provide disruptive event information for large networks or the Internet This includes 1 a definition of a disruptive event 2 identification of data to identify disruptive events 3 identification and operational reporting via an API for disruptive events and 4 attribution or root cause analysis of the disruptive events with a measure of attribution accuracy At least three state space models will be produced under the phase I effort PHASE I The final deliverable for Phase I proposals is an initial proof of concept design for a risk assessment tool that incorporates state space models of networks or systems of networks At least one state space network model shall be of a large network the size of a multinational corporation network or government agency network All models will include modeling of privacy in the network At least one model shall be of an emergency communications network or part of an emergency communications network Examples include call flow within a 9-1-1 system of various sizes e g small less than 5 seats The proof of concept design shall include algorithms to identify risks in the state space models produced under the phase I effort PHASE II The deliverable for Phase II is a prototype software or device software combination that implements the proof of concept design in Phase I The prototype should be applicable to government and enterprise communication networks or systems of networks and ideally include mobile devices The developed prototype will be delivered for piloting within DHS components other government organizations or enterprises Additional state-space system or network models may be required for the pilot implementation The risk assessment tool will include analysis for privacy risks in the network 19 PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS Although the focus of this effort is for emergency communications networks and call flow within 9-1-1 systems in particular the tool s developed under this project will have many applications in both industry and government Enterprise networks are compromised on a regular basis Identification of risks associated with government and enterprise networks will benefit the entire internet ecosystem to enable protection and mitigation activities REFERENCES 1 9-1-1 https www 911 gov pdf OEC_NG911_Cybersecurity_Primer_May_2018 pdf 2 5 Steps to Perform a Cyber Security Risk Assessment on Your Network https peoplesec org 2018 02 25 5-steps-perform-cyber-security-risk-assessmentnetwork 3 NIST risk assessment framework https csrc nist gov publications detail sp 800-30 rev1 final KEY WORDS Network Modeling Cyber Risk Assessment Counterfactual Analysis Network Risk Assessment Privacy risk 9-1-1 cyber risk TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Ann Cox Ann Cox@hq dhs gov 20 TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-008 TITLE Blockchain Applications for Homeland Security Forensic Analytics TECHNOLOGY AREAS Encryption authentication cyber security internet of things and data analytics blockchain OBJECTIVE Design a product to support the implementation of block chain based forensics data analysis and information sharing DESCRIPTION Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology DLT are emerging technologies being leveraged for a wide range of commercial and governmental applications The most well-known use case would likely be Bitcoin within the newly emerged cryptocurrency arena which has spurred further interest and developments Prior efforts have addressed Bitcoin analytics which covers only a limited scope within the realm of cryptocurrencies This proposal seeks applications of blockchain forensic analytics for newer cryptocurrencies such as Zcash and Monero And ongoing research within the field also contributes to new technological implementations and techniques that continue to multiply the specific types of consensus privacy security and proof mechanisms A key feature underlying these newer blockchain platforms that is frequently emphasized is the capability for anonymity and privacy protection While these features are desirable there is similarly a compelling interest in tracing and understanding transactions and actions on the blockchain of an illegal nature To that end this proposal calls for solutions that enable law enforcement investigations to perform forensic analysis on blockchain transactions This analysis can be approached in any number of ways and may consider different data situation use cases depending on whether additional data from off-chain sources are available Furthermore with the proliferation of new blockchain variants the desired solution should either attempt to show generality or extensibility or at least provide working approaches to treating newer blockchain implementations PHASE I Design a blockchain analysis ecosystem or modify an existing one that enables forensic analysis for homeland security and law enforcement applications for cryptocurrencies such as Zcash and Monero Produce an architecture that shows how system components can be upgraded or interchanged for an extensible and forward-looking solution that can be maintained for use with emerging blockchain networks Demonstrate or discuss implementation feasibility with respect to concept of operations governance algorithms costs and security Identify risks to privacy security and technology and develop risk mitigation strategies PHASE II Prototype and demonstrate the blockchain forensic technologies designed during Phase I The demonstrations will include three 3 use cases determined by DHS S T and will involve the analysis of suspicious transaction without external data with external data and on another blockchain platform A technical report detailing the results and improvements made to enhance the technology will be provided after each demonstration 21 PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS The proliferation of blockchain technology beyond the cryptocurrency arena has drawn interest from all other sectors with new proposed blockchains for everything from banking charitable donations supply chain tracking to automatically executing smart contracts These technologies stand to radically transform operations in government and the private sector Because of the significant impact in areas such as governance data sharing agreement enforcement and encrypted analytics interchanges there are a wide variety of applications in government and the commercial marketplace that can benefit from successful product development Blockchain forensic analytics for the homeland security enterprise can help the DHS law enforcement and security operations across components as well as state and local law enforcement operations Private financial institutions can likewise benefit from such capabilities in enforcing “know your customer” and anti-money laundering compliance REFERENCES 1 https www technologyreview com s 610807 sitting-with-the-cyber-sleuths-who-trackcryptocurrency-criminals 2 https coincenter org entry how-can-law-enforcement-leverage-the-blockchain-ininvestigations 3 https cointelegraph com news how-law-enforcement-can-investigate-bitcoin-relatedcrimes-and-why-thats-good 4 https www inc com will-yakowicz startups-law-enforcement-agencies-catch-criminalswho-use-cryptocurrency html 5 https www bloomberg com news articles 2018-06-27 fbi-has-130-cryptocurrencyrelated-investigations-agent-says KEY WORDS Encryption crypto-certification encrypted data analytics authentication cyber security internet of things blockchain and data analytics TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT Stephen Dennis Stephen Dennis@hq dhs gov 22 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-009 TITLE Detector Integration with Current and Emerging Networked Systems TECHNOLOGY AREAS Data Communication Networks Cloud Computing Radiation Sensing Internet of Sensors OBJECTIVE Survey current radiation instruments sensors used for preventative radiological nuclear R N detection missions For selected systems develop appropriate interfaces that permit integration with current and emerging networked systems DESCRIPTION This topic seeks the development of relevant communications protocols application programming interfaces APIs and interface control documentation ICDs to allow legacy and emerging radiation detection systems in operational use to be integrated into current and emerging networked systems The effort would encompass surveying commonly deployed legacy radiation detection systems cost-benefit analyses to assess the relative importance of which detection systems merit integration and subsequent development of the required interfaces to permit integration of those systems The effort must include the ability to transmit stream the data from the sensor s to current and emerging networked systems It should take into account that there are a multitude of sensors that can be categorized as permanent deployable and roving all of which can be in GPS-denied environments Proposed technical solutions must provide near-real-time transmission of sensor data when cellular or WiFi communication is unavailable These capabilities are critical to operational environments where cellular is not readily available such as U S Coast Guard operations and U S Customs and Border Protection CBP U S Border Patrol BP operations Solutions should be proposed that are capable of high bandwidth secured rugged scalable cost effective and low size weight and power Additionally solutions that allow transmission of data while minimizing signatures for geolocation of the transmitter would also permit a wider range of CONOPS Proposers should expect to develop working relationships with original equipment manufacturers OEMs of deployed legacy R N detection systems and current performers supporting the current networked system PHASE I Phase I efforts should lead to an initial demonstration of the detection system communicating with a current or emerging network and displaying appropriate responses to detected radiation source This includes the following  Conduct a survey of deployed legacy radiation detection systems and potentially other radiation sensors in addition to a preliminary cost-benefit analyses to assess the relative important of which detection systems merit integration The following criteria must be factored into the cost-benefit analysis along with any supplemental proposed criteria o Prevalence of use of the legacy system o Cost of the system o Performance of the system as compared to existing systems 23   o Existing communications capabilities of the system Down-select a sample of these detection systems that are prioritized to integration with current networked systems Develop and document required ICDs and or APIs to support integration of the highest priority detection system Phase I deliverables include monthly progress reports and a final Phase I report addressing the items above with particular emphasis on the cost-benefit analysis Project review meetings will be held at the initiation mid-point and completion of the Phase I effort PHASE II This phase will expand upon Phase I conducting the actual research and development to integrate three or more detection systems into the emerging network edge This phase will conclude in demonstrated integration of several detection systems into the emerging network framework This demonstration will include   Continuous reliable communications of the instruments with current and emerging networked systems over an extended period of time weeks Effective ingestion and as appropriate analysis of detector data by the receiving network including sensor state of health Phase II deliverables include monthly progress reports and annual technical reports Summary reports on three or more detection systems being successfully integrated on current and emerging networked systems are also required Project review meetings will be held throughout the project period as needed to include but not limited to the initiation mid-point and completion of the Phase II effort PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS This topic’s Phase III activities would include a successful commercialization strategy for supporting the integration of other detection systems into the current emerging network system and supporting their optimal use within the network REFERENCES 1 Android Windows Tactical Assault Kit https atakmap com 2 ArcGIS http www arcgis com index html 3 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA SIGMA project See https www darpa mil program sigma https www darpa mil news-events 2017-03-01 https www darpa mil news-events 2016-10-11 https www darpa mil newsevents 2016-08-23 KEY WORDS Data Communication Networks Cloud Computing Radiation Sensing Internet of Things POINT OF CONTACT CWMD SBIR@hq dhs gov 24 SBIR TOPIC NUMBER H-SB019 1-010 TITLE Unmanned Aerial System Autonomous Search of Limited Area for Radiological Threats TECHNOLOGY AREAS radiation detection cost effective equipment autonomous robotics unmanned aerial system UAS unmanned aerial vehicle UAV OBJECTIVE Integrate commercially-available radiation detection equipment into a commercially-available Unmanned Aerial System UAS to meet the objective of performing an automated search of a defined limited area Cargo Container Yard Stadium Parking Lot etc for radiological threats DESCRIPTION The goal of this effort is to prove the concept of automated UAS to conduct radiation detection operations in a cluttered three-dimensional environment such as a cargo container yard stadium or parking lot The only operator action will be to define the boundaries of the environment to be searched to include defining basic search parameters e g minimum separation distance from obstacles and flight line spacing The UAS may include multiple small unmanned aerial vehicles UAS capabilities must include 1 Operation within 2 m of objects to be inspected during flight 2 Detection of anomalous gamma-ray and neutron radiation The onboard radiation detection systems will meet the radiological test detection requirements of the ANSI N42 48 3 Production of a real-time “heat map” for radiation as flight is conducted 4 Dwelling at locations where radiation anomalies are identified for as little as 30 seconds and no more than 5 minutes 5 Optimization of search pattern to minimize search time while maintaining the ability to localize and identify radiological threats including the ability to provide the operator with search time and battery usage estimates based on the definition of optimized search area and flight parameters provided by the operator 6 LIDAR for collision avoidance and to map search area and using that information to develop an optimized search pattern 7 Visual cameras to provide live feed of flight profile 8 The ability to transmit location information of one small unmanned aerial vehicle UAV relative to the object being scanned and other unmanned aerial vehicles if applicable 9 Logging and transmitting to the operator and or a designated reachback center georeferenced gamma-ray spectra visual imagery LIDAR profile and all flight parameters when the UAS records either a gamma-ray or neutron alarm 10 Flexible communications Satellite Cellular Tower Wireless hardwired etc depending on what is available at a given deployment location 25 11 The ability to launch from a designated site perform search and return before running out of power or when “mission” is complete 12 Communication of system health status back to operator “heartbeat” 13 Recharging for subsequent assignment 14 A human interface that allows for all automated functions to be controlled manually 15 A “kill” button for emergency power-down on both the human interface and the unmanned aerial vehicle itself 16 Field repairs on limited life components prone to deteriorate due to the nature of their function design 17 Running full diagnostics on the UAS platform for maintenance purposes as well as firmware updates etc PHASE I The end product of the Phase I effort should be a conceptual design for a UAS autonomous search system capable of detecting radiological threats in a complex 3-D environment such as a cargo container yard stadium or parking lot The system should be capable autonomous operations in a cluttered 3-D environment The design should identify commercial components that can be procured in Phase II and the design of the control component of the integrated system that will orchestrate the operation of the UAS vehicle and radiation detection system to carry out the screening A simulation of the automated system is desired but not required Other Phase I deliverables will be monthly progress reports and a final conceptual design report Phase I proposals should identify threshold and objective parameters for system cost inspection time in clear weather inspection time in “inclement” as defined by the proposal weather detection distances and activity system size and weight system operation time as well as any other performance parameters which are key to the specific UAV chosen Proposals should emphasize integration of systems and components which are already commercially available and should not contain significant R D of UAVs or radiation detection systems Project review meetings will be held at the initiation mid-point and completion of the Phase I effort PHASE II The end product of the Phase II effort should be the demonstration of UAS autonomous search system capable of detecting radiological threats in a complex 3-D environment such as a cargo container yard stadium or parking lot After designating the optimized search area and flight parameters provided by the operator the UAS prototype should carry out the screening including transmission of the findings and spectra to a designated reachback center without further human intervention Phase II deliverables include monthly progress reports and annual technical reports Two prototype systems will be delivered to CWMD or its partners as directed at the end of Phase II This deliverable may be reduced or waived depending on anticipated system cost Project 26 review meetings will be held throughout the project period as needed to include but not limited to the initiation mid-point and completion of the Phase II effort PHASE III COMMERCIAL OR GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONS Should the concept be proven successful for a complex 3-D environment the system could be modified to explore other Homeland Security applications to include border screening REFERENCES 1 ANSI N42 48- American National Standard Performance Requirements for Spectroscopic Personal Radiation Detectors SPRDs for Homeland Security IEEE New York May 2018 2 Bürkle A Segor F Kollmann M J Jan 2011 Towards Autonomous Micro UAV Swarms a Journal of Intelligent Robotic Systems Volume 61 Issue 1–4 pp 339–353 3 Cortez R A 2008 Sept Smart Radiation Sensor Management IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine pp 85 - 93 KEY WORDS radiation search optimal automated unmanned aerial vehicles POINT OF CONTACT CWMD SBIR@hq dhs gov 27