2 00:00:01,870 --> 00:00:06,210 [John] Welcome to Tech Talk, this the Department of Homeland Security, Science and
Technology Directorate. For those of you not familiar with us we are the research and development
arm, that helps to support the Homeland Security mission across
all of the operational components, the Nation's First Responders and
critical infrastructure, not a small mission. And the research and development arm
has to try to support all of these things by working with industry
and universities and laboratories, to try to find some technological solutions
to the challenges that are faced on the front line. One of those
challenges happens in the realm of cyber security. And so we're here today to talk about some unique ways
of how we are approaching some of these cyber security challenges. One of the challenges
that we have, in research and development in itself, is transitioning technology from
laboratory idea and laboratory consent into the commercial market and actually getting it into the hands
of people who can use it. So with me today is our Program Manager in our Cyber Security Division here at the
Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate,
Dr.. Nadia Carlsten, welcome. Your the Program Manager for our
Transition to Practice program. The program identifies promising federally funded
cyber security technologies that had research projects and accelerates their
transition from the laboratory out to the market place. So Nadia, welcome again and
tell me a little about the Transition to Practice program. [Nadia] Thank you, John. So the Transition to
Practice, TTP for short, is really an accelerated program for federally funded
technologies. What we do is find technologies that already exist in
research organizations and we commercialize them so they become widely available to
users and so that they can actually be used to address some of the security challenges and problems
that we are seeing. [John] How did this program come about, where did this
come from, and really what a great idea. [Nadia] So only a fraction of R&D
actually ever results in a product that is at the operational stage or that is
commercially available. That's the problem that TTP was set up to try to address. Part of that is part
of the normal envision process, of course not all research projects are going to lead to commercial
product. But when it comes to federal research and development there are some key challenges
that make it hard to get those technologies out of the labs and into the hands of users.
So in 2012, out of a White House initiative TTP was created specifically to address transition
of these federally funded technologies. [John] Oh that's pretty cool. You know this is
a unique kind of program in the government, you don't normally see this kind of thing.
Oh by the way folks, please feel free to ask questions that's what this is an open forum for.
So please do, post your questions here on the Tech Talk and we'll be happy to get to them as we
can. But I do have some more questions, obviously, I want to know more about how this works. I mean the program
was developed to bridge the gap between research and the market place and I know that we frequently
call this the Valley of Death. This is the point where you have technology reaches a certain point
in its development stage with maybe functional prototype but then the researchers
don't really understand how to then take it get out to the commercial market, mass produce
it, whatever and actually get people using it. So we call that the Valley of Death, that unique problem.
So, tell me about some of the challenges that you're facing on this. [Nadia] Sure. So the big problem the overall
problem is that these technologies that coming out of research organizations like labs and universities,
they're very early stage. So what that means is when we get to them
there is still a significant amount of work that needs to be done in order to get the technology more mature
to get it to a readiness level where somebody is actually going to be
interested in trying it out in their environment, or an investor is actually going to be
interested in potentially licensing the technology. So there is a couple gaps that we have to
address. One of them is a funding gap. There is just not that many investors out
there that are willing to invest in technologies that are very early stage. And another one that
you touched on is a capabilities gap. The commercialization is
something that's really hard that a lot of researchers just don't get training for. So, really we're bringing
the skills and expertise to try and do this for these technologies and they normally wouldn't
have access to all of that. And our process was really designed with that in mind
so we're addressing all of these different types of challenges that we are seeing for these
technologies. And our goal is to put through a process where they come out stronger in the end
because they've addressed all of these challenges. [John] So we were talking about
technologies that were funded by government funds. Either in a government lab or
universities, things like that where we have actually provided the funding to get something developed.
So who are some of these partners that you are working with on this federally funded
technology. [Nadia] Right, so it's interesting because we actually work with both Government and the private
sector to try to maximize these opportunities. So on the one hand, when we select
technologies we're working with multiple sources of R&D, basically
everywhere where federal R&D is going on. So that includes the federal laboratories, including some of the
Department of Energy's National Labs as well as Department of Defense affiliated labs, FFRDC's
and universities. So really a lot different sources that we pull from. On the other hand
we're also working with government agencies and DHS components and the private sector and their the
ones that are helping pilot these technologies giving us feedback in requirements about them
and ultimately help us by piloting and licensing the technologies as they are coming out of
the program. So it's really kind of both sides and we're acting as a connector
between those two sides in creating these partnerships. [John] Wow! You know Dr. Carlsten, you
come with a background in intellectual property management
enterprise innovation, I know you worked in the past at Accenture and at the Department of Energy
so you've got a lot of background coming into this and you kind of know what you're looking for, I guess as your
evaluating technology. So how to you choose the technologies that you're pulling out
of the labs and bringing into the program. [Nadia] That's a great question. So I'm primarily
looking for two things. Number one, it's good that the technology
is innovative in some way. It needs to have a new approach in addressing the problem
because it is so hard to transition technologies out of these labs it really needs to be
something new. We can't be just looking at incremental innovation. And ideally
there would be some intellectual property associated with it as well because that makes it a lot more
attractive. And then the second thing that we take into consideration
is what we know about the existing landscape. So timing and alignment are very critical
in this process. We have to make sure that all of the technologies that we are advancing are
actually good and appealing and interesting to users and investors down the road.
[John] You say existing landscape, it's kind of like an awareness of what'sgoing on in the world
like kinds of things are needed. [Nadia] Absolutely. So we need to be in tune with the needs of operational
users, both in the government as well as in the industry. So one of the things that we do is
engagement with those users to actually learn more about their
needs. What technologies already exist and what gaps are in
those technologies. So what is it that we can bring to the table that they don't already have
access to in the commercial market. [John] Wow! So, what kinds of technologies
do you currently have in your program. [Nadia] So we've focused on cyber security applications
and we've built over the years a very strong a very diverse portfolio of technologies
that is very diverse in terms of the topics, the cyber topics that it's addressing.
So we have several network technologies. We also have several
technologies that address the security of industrial infrastructure as well as critical
infrastructure. And we have several tools that really are targeted towards
Cyber Analysts, helping make their job easier. For example helping them analyze malware
very quickly or respond to threats and gather intelligence about threats very quickly. And as you mentioned
that we also have a few technologies in the portfolio that are more in the realm of data analytics
and visualization. So they have much broader applications and can potentially be interesting even to
people who may not be cyber security focused. [John] I know that these
technologies go through a rigorous process. Can you kind of explain the process and how
the technologies go through or evolve through the process when they are coming through TTP? [Nadia] Sure, yes.
It is a rigorous process. So after they are selected as a cohort they go through a serious activities
that really have been designed to, number one increase the maturity of the technology and then make
them more ready for getting to the market place. So two things that we focus on
The first one is validating the technology. And we do that including by
doing testing of the capabilities. Testing of functionality and the security of the technology.
Trying it out in different operational environments. And the second thing we look at is different applications
different markets that we can be targeting and different business models to make the technology successful.
So the combination of those two things really give us a very good idea of what type of opportunities
we should be pursuing for each technology. And then what we do is we have a series of
demo days were we introduce the technologies to people. So different groups
we try to get diverse crowds at each of the demo days. And they give us feedback and they give us
information about what their need are and that interaction leads to very good information
about who we should be targeting and helps us do so match making between our technologies
and people who would be ideal candidates as development and commercialization partners.
So by the end of the process what we're looking for is the technologies have had several
rounds of interactions with users, they've gone through testing they've done a couple of pilots
and that combined with the training that we make available means that they have a product that is now
much strong much closer to the market place and much more appealing to licenses and investors.
[John] Couple things you mentioned, one thing you mentioned was a cohort.
Could you just briefly describe what you mean by a cohort? [Nadia] Sure. So each year when we select technologies
we usually select them in groups of about eight. So we have the 2017 cohort
that is our latest cohort. That is a group of technologies that was selected in 2017,
So most of the activity they do as a cohort so when you come to a demo day for example
you come and see the 2017 cohort of the 2016 cohort. [John] Got it. Great. That helps
to understand that process. And on the demo days you also talked about bringing a variety
of people, so I'm assuming this is a combination of potential end users as well as
potential investors at the demo days or do the investors kind of come in later? [Nadia] It's actually a combination
So, partnerships in general with the private sectors has really been key to our success. And we kind of
see people interested in the program coming from all backgrounds. For technology investors, they love to come
to the demo days because it's really a one stop shop for them to see technologies that have been pulled from
all across the labs across the U.S. And we've done quite a bit of work in de-risking the technology
for them by having it go through our validation process. But the interaction with
system integrators and IT professionals, cyber security professionals that also attend the demo days
is very valuable. So they're the ones that give us a lot firsthand information about what the
needs are, what the specific work requirements are and also information about whether their interested.
in doing a pilot or not. So it's really this ability to pull from different groups that makes the demo day
such a great event. [John] Great! Great! For those of you just tuning in. shame on you for being late
but you'll be able to watch the early part in the replay once it's posted. But
we are here with Dr. Nadia Carlsten who is with the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology
Directorate, and who runs the Transition to Practice program helping to transition prototype
technologies out of government funded research and into the commercial market. So
Nadia, just going back to this concept of making this transition, how
do you...you talk about the demo days as one these opportunities so kind of explain a little bit
for us how the technologies get connected to the market place. [Nadia] Right. So we're very focused on
commercialization but we are very flexible in terms of the transition path. So every
technology tends to get there in a different way. Mainly licensing agreements are the
way that we facilitate transition. So there's kind of a couple scenarios. The first one is
an established company coming to us looking for a technology
either because they have something on the market already and they are looking for
IP to complement what they already have and they can license it from us instead of reinventing
the wheel on their own. But they could also be coming to us because they want to get into
a new market or create a brand new product line. So we've actually worked with both kinds.
Another way that we support commercialization is by helping create new start-ups.
So that's actually very exciting. So the technologies spin off
of the labs and the universities and in those cases we work investors to help get them set up
with funding and helping the company being formed. But we've formed seven such
start-ups that didn't create previously and their now
trying to sell a product on the market and they're fully fleshed companies.
Another thing that we do is we support open source which a lot
people don't realize because we're so focused on commercialization but in some cases that is the best
way to get the technology to a lot of users so it is a model that we
support in some cases. And of course we have also been able to transition technologies back to
government users in many cases. So taking the technology that was funded by one agency
an introducing it to another federal agency tends to be something that we do quite a bit of.
[John] I never even thought of that. That kind of makes sense
and I would have never thought it. We are getting some questions from Facebook thank you folks. So one of the
questions is, "Are there limits to how developed the tech needs to be
in order to be selected" And is it limited to brand new technology?"
[Nadia] So, in terms of maturation level. We usually look
at something that's beyond the proof of concept stage.
It doesn't need to be much beyond that. So, it can be brand new it s usually
if not a new technology a new approach to do something. And I think the second part of
the questions is, "Does it need to be brand new technology?" No, not really if there is some
new intellectual property or if it addresses a problem in a new way we'll consider that as well. [John] Ok.
And another question was about the demo days. And so "Where are these demo
days held?" I know that we hold them in various locations and for various types of audiences.
So, where are they held and when is the next one? [Nadia] So, we do try to have them in different
locations so that we can really attract a lot of different groups to come to the demo days. We usually have
four to five a year. We always have one in Washington D.C. and one in Silicon Valley.
And then to try to target different sectors, we try different cities. So we've had one in New York
for a few years where we really try to appeal to the financial services sector. And we've done one in
Texas a couple times to showcase the technologies to people from the gas and oil
industries. So those were very interesting. The next one we're planning will probably be
sometime in September. So I would say if somebody is interested in attending the demo day they should
send us an email so we can put them on the mailing list and they will have all of the details about the next
one. [John] Great! We will have the email address up on the page here shortly.
Meanwhile, who are the target audiences you try to engage with
on these technologies. Like who are the end users and who are the...what types of industries
are you looking for? [Nadia] So in terms of industries it could really be
anyone. Cyber security is such a broad problem that we really tend to get
people from anything from healthcare to energy to consumer products
so industry doesn't matter as much. What we like to see are people who are somewhat technical
who are going to be able to understand the technology and its application and it's possible
utility. In terms of types of organizations, we've worked with large organizations
we've worked with very small organizations, so really that doesn't matter to us [John] Startups! [Nadia] Exactly!
So what we're really looking for is somebody who has an interest in licensing these technologies or if he's
exploring that as a possibility. Or who has the opportunity
to pilot some of these technologies. Maybe they have a test or operational environment that they're
interested in, in seeing how these technologies perform. [John] Pilot opportunities is
very interesting. I think a lot of people are going to be interested to know more about. So let's...
So let me ask you this. You've been very successful in this program, I think there have been about
40 technologies that have been brought into the program since its inception and you recently
transitioned your 20th. So literately half your portfolio is already now transitioned which is a
fabulous success rate. What made this so successful and can you give us a few examples of some of these
successful transition? [Nadia] Right. Yeah so it is a remarkable milestone, one that we're very excited about.
In terms of what has made us successful, I think, as a program its
the fact that we do tackle all of the different problems in bridging this value
that we talked about earlier. We're helping to create start-ups, we're helping
them find funding we're also helping with licensing. Our flexibility in really finding the best
way for each technology to become commercially available is something that makes us
makes us unique and differentiates us. And also helps us get very
good partners in this development and commercialization process. And that's very important
because everything we do we do in partnership. With on the one hand, the research community
and on the other hand with the private sector and our government users. In terms of the technologies
themselves they've all be very different. They all span different topic areas.
I'd say what they all in common was the fact that they all approached a problem in a very unique way.
And they we're also very strong from a technical and intellectual property standpoint so that made it very
easy to get high caliber partners interested in the technologies.
So one of the examples of that was PATHSCAN, which was a TTP technology
that was licensed by Ernst & Young and it's actually still now being used
and it's very successful for them they are using it as part of their cyber security services.
Another example. [John] Can you tell us what that one, what it is or what it does?
[Nadia] Sure, so it helps people detect network anomalies. So as you can imagine that's actually
very important, especially for large enterprises. An another one is
PACRAT. So very different in terms of technology, that one really focuses on
physical security, blending it with cyber security. So again
very unique type of technology. And that one was licensed to be integrated
in something that was already on the market. Which was different from PATHSCAN.
and that one is commercially available as well. And the really interesting
thing is its now also being used in a couple of government organizations which is
pretty cool. And then in terms of start-ups our latest ones Cynash
just received a round. They're integrating a couple of technologies that they found through the TTP
program. These were nature inspired cyber security technologies. And they're using them
[John] Nature inspired? [Nadia] Nature inspired security [John] Ok! [Nadia] And they're using them to protect
industrial control systems and critical infrastructure. [John] Can you explain what you mean by nature
inspired and give us a little detail on that one? [Nadia] Sure! So one of the technologies is called
millstones. And it�s actually very interesting. It uses| the same principles
as biologists use for protein sequencing to group
classes or families or proteins together and applying it to cyber security.
So very unique approach as you can imagine. And we're just very
excited that Cynash is now going to be using it in conjunction with some other technologies
to actually address this really important problem of critical infrastructure. [John] Wow, excellent.
Well we're getting some more questions in so let's go to the poll here.
Tech adoption rates within First Responder communities have been historically forced upon sharp end
users. Those actually doing the work, from up stream to downstream in organizations.
"How can technology advancements and adoption rates be moved in the opposite direction as the end user is
actually in position to see how modifying technology can be altered to reduce
gaps?" Kind of a long question, but I think we have the gist of it.
[Nadia] Ok, I think what they're asking is how can the end users actually be a participant in
this process. [John] Yes. [Nadia] That's easy for me to answer because for example
in our demo days, we get a lot of end users that come and actually see the
technologies in action. That's why it's call the demo day because you actually come in
touch the technology, see how it works, ask a lot of questions from the person that actually
developed it. So we're very much trying to appeal to the people who are
out there in the field using the technologies or interested in the technologies.
In terms of the licensing then we work with usually a different part of the organizations.
But it's very important to have that buy-in from the actual user or the actual analyst.
[John] So, let's say an end user comes to one of your demo days and you
showcase this technology that does this. They
then could validate whether that technology would be useful to them or if they would need
a modification. Is that what these demo days would be for? [Nadia] Absolutely. The demo days
is the starting point to a longer conversation. So if there is interest
if it looks like it's going to meet their needs then the next step usually to try to talk
about a pilot. And what we help do with a pilot is it's an opportunity
for that end user to work hand and hand with the person who developed the
technology. Now that's very important and something that doesn't exist else ware. Usually
somebody's interested in the technology they have to license it and that's it, right?
They're on their own trying to make it work. That doesn't work. Which is why we
really support these pilots. And that gives that end user an opportunity to
for a short period of time, three months maybe six month depending on the technology,
to try it out in their environment, have that developer as a resource to
ask questions. If there is something unique about the use case or
something that's unique about the requirements, then we can have the discussions about making the modification
for them as well. [John] Cool. Alright, thank you. and so, "How does
your program handle Moore's Law regarding technological advancements?" Government
entities tend to be slower in adopting technology then the private sector.
And can you explain what Moore's Law is for those of us who don't? [Nadia] So
I'm not sure what he means by Moore's Law in this context but in terms of the...
I see what he or she's getting at in terms of the adoption
problem. So government agencies are slower to procure technologies
normally then industry. That's something that we have seen as well. One of the ways that we mitigate
that is by working with industry as well as government. So since we are trying to commercialize
these technologies it doesn't necessarily get in the way of our process too much.
What we try to do is that for every technology we actually try to pursue
a government end user as well as private sector end user. And the reason we do that, it's
not just so that it makes the probability of success bigger but it's also because
while government is slower they also have, usually, some very unique requirements
and use cases where they want to use this technology. So if we're able to work with them it generally
ends up making the technology that much stronger. [John] I think, also just the concept of the fact that,
let's say you have a data analytics technology that you've created and if that becomes part of a commercial product
the government is not necessarily looking to buy that data analytics technology itself but they may be looking to buy
a product and now it has this new feature in it. So I guess the government still benefits
in the long run. [Nadia] Absolutely, everything we do the government will benefit in the long run.
But what we're saying is, instead of trying to transition government technologies back
to government, which is a process that is very difficult for some of the reasons
the audience mentioned. Let's try to commercialize the technologies
so that they can benefit as many people as possible an a lot of cases those technologies will
end up being procured by the government. But it's a lot easier for the government to procure something that's
already on the shelf and try to tinker with the technology that's in a lab and without the support
and the services that they need. [John] That makes no sense. So, you know this is
not something that normally government folks get involved with. You have a
doctorate in engineering. So this whole commercialization process is a whole different
realm. So one of the questions that came in here is What are some new and different things that
you've learned about commercialization as you've implemented this program. [Nadia] Yeah that a interesting
question. So, I've actually been in commercialization pretty much my entire career.
So, soon after I got my Ph.D. ended up going to the dark side of business.
And my interest has always been creating value out of technology and not technology for its own
sake but helping use it to either grow a company or start a company.
So TTP was just a natural fit for me. What I've learned is
how different how things seem on this side. So I've been on the commercial side where
trying to help organizations license technologies from government and advising
companies on how to make the best use of their intellectual property. Now
my role is really as a connector between that private sector and with these
research organizations that are really government organizations. So, it's interesting because I see where the
private sector is coming from but I've also had the experience of working for government
organization. So in a lot of ways I'm a translator sometimes a mediator
between the two sides and it's a lot of fun. [John] And we have another question, "Is a
gold roadmap involved?" Do we have any gold roadmap
is or what the reference is? [Nadia] I'm not sure what the reference to gold is.
[John] Well, whoever submitted that question if you want to elaborate on that, that'd be great. Meanwhile,
could you tell us how people can engage with your program? [Nadia] So the best way to engage is
take a look at our website; I think we're going to have that displayed on the screen at some point. We have a lot of
resources on the webpage including information about our past transitions. And one of the things they should look
for is the TTP Tech Guide. So the Tech Guide has descriptions of all of the technologies
that have been in the TTP program, including the current technologies that are still active.
And once they take a look at that, if they're interested they should just shoot us an email
and tell us which technology they are interested in having more conversations about and we'll of course
get in touch. Another thing that we've already talked about is the demo days. If you're able to attend a demo day
you absolutely should. It's a great way to get engaged with the program and really see the technologies
in action. [John] Excellent! Well we have run almost the gambit of time so I
will say if you have more questions, please continue to submit them even after this broadcast, this live broadcast
is over, because we will go back and try to answer those questions to the best of our ability. And also obviously
reach out on our webpage and through the email address that's on your screen.
So, like to just talk about what's next for the program what do you see coming down the pike?
[Nadia] So we have still a couple cohorts of technologies that are still active so of course we will be planning
demo days and looking for opportunities to keep showcasing them. Another really
interesting thing that's going on is, because we've been so successful in transitioning and commercializing
cyber security technologies, we've been asked to look into expanding
into technical areas beyond cyber and trying to find technologies that address
other types of national security challenges. So that's going to be very
exciting for us to look into. And as we are putting together the next
cohort of technologies that should be a really exciting process. [John] That sounds very
exciting. I'm looking to seeing what kind of technologies you work on in the future.
Dr. Carlsten, thank you so much for taking the time to join us this morning.
I'm hoping that we've answered everyone's questions except for the one question that we
didn't quite understand but hopefully they'll get back to us and explain that a little bit and then we can
respond to them. And I'll remind you, please do continue to submit your questions
we will get back to you and provide answers. Visit our website. And
most important tune into our next Tech Talk. The Science and Technology Directorate of the
Department of Homeland Security is doing really cool work and our Tech Talks are here to try to explain those
programs. Thanks for tuning in.