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Opportunity Summary:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate issued a competitive discretionary funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: DHS 08 ST 061 002) to select a single accredited U.S. college or university to establish and operate a DHS Center of Excellence (COE) focused on Command, Control and Interoperability (C2I). The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically means DHS expects to remain actively involved in shaping or coordinating the work as it progresses rather than simply providing funding with minimal engagement. The overall purpose is to build a sustained, university-led research center that can produce both foundational science and practical technologies that improve how homeland security stakeholders collect, analyze, visualize, share, and act on complex information in time-sensitive operational environments.

At its core, the opportunity targets the challenge of making sense of massive, heterogeneous data streams in support of threat detection and decision-making for national security, critical infrastructure protection, and public health and welfare. DHS frames the mission as creating the scientific basis and enduring technologies needed to analyze very large volumes of information drawn from multiple sources, with the aim of improving reliability in detecting threats. Just as important, the COE is expected to improve dissemination: getting the right information and related technologies to the right users in ways that support real operational command-and-control needs and interoperability across organizations and systems.

The technical scope is organized around seven interrelated research themes that collectively point to modern data-intensive analytics and visualization for operational use. First is dynamic, on-demand data processing and visualization, emphasizing the ability to process and display information as needs shift in real time rather than relying on static, precomputed products. Second is hypothesis-driven data analysis, indicating a focus on analytic workflows where users can form, test, and refine hypotheses using data, instead of purely exploratory or purely automated approaches. Third is visualization across structured, unstructured, and streaming data, which highlights the need to fuse traditional databases with text, reports, communications, sensor outputs, and live feeds. Fourth is the mathematics of discrete and visual analytics, suggesting DHS is looking for rigorous theoretical underpinnings (models, algorithms, and methods) that make visual analytic techniques more reliable and scalable. Fifth is scalable information filtering and dissemination, aimed at managing overload by prioritizing, routing, and delivering information effectively as volumes grow. Sixth is visualization and simulation of information, pointing to tools that can both depict current situations and simulate scenarios to support planning, training, and decision support. Seventh is mobile and lightweight information analytics and sharing, which reflects the operational requirement that analysts and responders often work in the field with constrained devices, bandwidth, and time.

From an applicant and funding perspective, eligibility is limited to U.S. institutions of higher education, including both public/state-controlled and private universities, provided they are accredited. DHS anticipated making one award, with an estimated total funding amount of $3,000,000 and an award ceiling of $3,000,000. No cost sharing or matching was required, lowering the barrier for academic applicants that may not have substantial non-federal resources available. The program is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and it is associated with CFDA 97.061 (Centers for Homeland Security), aligning it with DHS efforts to build long-term research capacity through university-led centers.

In terms of timing and administration, the opportunity was posted on April 29, 2008, with a closing date of June 15, 2008, and an archive date of June 25, 2008. A modification dated May 30, 2008 clarified the submission of a sixth-year budget, which implies DHS expected applicants to plan beyond a simple short-term project horizon and to consider multi-year center operations and sustainability planning as part of the application package. The administering office is listed as the Office of Procurement Operations, Grants Division. For access issues or assistance, the listed grants officer contact is Diane Osterhus (phone: 202-447-5589), with an email referenced but not fully provided in the text you shared.

Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as DHS seeking to stand up a national-level academic hub for advanced data analytics, visualization, and information-sharing technologies tailored to command-and-control and interoperability needs. The desired outcome is not only research publications, but also durable methods and tools that can transition into homeland security practice, improving how diverse agencies and stakeholders interpret complex data and coordinate decisions under uncertainty and time pressure.

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