WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.870 2 00:00:01,870 --> 00:00:06,210 [John] Welcome to Tech Talk, this the Department of Homeland Security, Science and 2 00:00:06.210 --> 00:00:10.270 Technology Directorate. For those of you not familiar with us we are the research and development 3 00:00:10.270 --> 00:00:14.430 arm, that helps to support the Homeland Security mission across 4 00:00:14.430 --> 00:00:18.480 all of the operational components, the Nation's First Responders and 5 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.640 critical infrastructure, not a small mission. And the research and development arm 6 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:26.650 has to try to support all of these things by working with industry 7 00:00:26.650 --> 00:00:30.810 and universities and laboratories, to try to find some technological solutions 8 00:00:30.810 --> 00:00:34.860 to the challenges that are faced on the front line. One of those 9 00:00:34.860 --> 00:00:39.860 challenges happens in the realm of cyber security. And so we're here today to talk about some unique ways 10 00:00:41.070 --> 00:00:46.070 of how we are approaching some of these cyber security challenges. One of the challenges 11 00:00:47.220 --> 00:00:52.220 that we have, in research and development in itself, is transitioning technology from 12 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:58.310 laboratory idea and laboratory consent into the commercial market and actually getting it into the hands 13 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.340 of people who can use it. So with me today is our Program Manager in our Cyber Security Division here at the 14 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:09.620 Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, 15 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:13.810 Dr.. Nadia Carlsten, welcome. Your the Program Manager for our 16 00:01:13.810 --> 00:01:18.810 Transition to Practice program. The program identifies promising federally funded 17 00:01:18.930 --> 00:01:23.930 cyber security technologies that had research projects and accelerates their 18 00:01:24.970 --> 00:01:29.970 transition from the laboratory out to the market place. So Nadia, welcome again and 19 00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:36.180 tell me a little about the Transition to Practice program. [Nadia] Thank you, John. So the Transition to 20 00:01:36.190 --> 00:01:41.190 Practice, TTP for short, is really an accelerated program for federally funded 21 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:46.230 technologies. What we do is find technologies that already exist in 22 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:51.340 research organizations and we commercialize them so they become widely available to 23 00:01:51.450 --> 00:01:56.450 users and so that they can actually be used to address some of the security challenges and problems 24 00:01:56.700 --> 00:02:01.520 that we are seeing. [John] How did this program come about, where did this 25 00:02:01.520 --> 00:02:06.520 come from, and really what a great idea. [Nadia] So only a fraction of R&D 26 00:02:06.530 --> 00:02:11.530 actually ever results in a product that is at the operational stage or that is 27 00:02:13.550 --> 00:02:18.550 commercially available. That's the problem that TTP was set up to try to address. Part of that is part 28 00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:24.750 of the normal envision process, of course not all research projects are going to lead to commercial 29 00:02:25.870 --> 00:02:30.870 product. But when it comes to federal research and development there are some key challenges 30 00:02:30.910 --> 00:02:35.910 that make it hard to get those technologies out of the labs and into the hands of users. 31 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:41.060 So in 2012, out of a White House initiative TTP was created specifically to address transition 32 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:48.200 of these federally funded technologies. [John] Oh that's pretty cool. You know this is 33 00:02:50.320 --> 00:02:55.320 a unique kind of program in the government, you don't normally see this kind of thing. 34 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:02.400 Oh by the way folks, please feel free to ask questions that's what this is an open forum for. 35 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:08.400 So please do, post your questions here on the Tech Talk and we'll be happy to get to them as we 36 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:14.580 can. But I do have some more questions, obviously, I want to know more about how this works. I mean the program 37 00:03:14.590 --> 00:03:19.590 was developed to bridge the gap between research and the market place and I know that we frequently 38 00:03:21.650 --> 00:03:26.650 call this the Valley of Death. This is the point where you have technology reaches a certain point 39 00:03:27.880 --> 00:03:32.880 in its development stage with maybe functional prototype but then the researchers 40 00:03:34.050 --> 00:03:39.050 don't really understand how to then take it get out to the commercial market, mass produce 41 00:03:40.160 --> 00:03:45.160 it, whatever and actually get people using it. So we call that the Valley of Death, that unique problem. 42 00:03:46.200 --> 00:03:51.200 So, tell me about some of the challenges that you're facing on this. [Nadia] Sure. So the big problem the overall 43 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:57.400 problem is that these technologies that coming out of research organizations like labs and universities, 44 00:03:57.510 --> 00:04:02.510 they're very early stage. So what that means is when we get to them 45 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:07.520 there is still a significant amount of work that needs to be done in order to get the technology more mature 46 00:04:07.530 --> 00:04:12.530 to get it to a readiness level where somebody is actually going to be 47 00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:17.600 interested in trying it out in their environment, or an investor is actually going to be 48 00:04:17.790 --> 00:04:22.790 interested in potentially licensing the technology. So there is a couple gaps that we have to 49 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:27.920 address. One of them is a funding gap. There is just not that many investors out 50 00:04:27.970 --> 00:04:32.970 there that are willing to invest in technologies that are very early stage. And another one that 51 00:04:33.150 --> 00:04:38.150 you touched on is a capabilities gap. The commercialization is 52 00:04:38.260 --> 00:04:43.260 something that's really hard that a lot of researchers just don't get training for. So, really we're bringing 53 00:04:45.320 --> 00:04:50.320 the skills and expertise to try and do this for these technologies and they normally wouldn't 54 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:55.500 have access to all of that. And our process was really designed with that in mind 55 00:04:55.610 --> 00:05:00.610 so we're addressing all of these different types of challenges that we are seeing for these 56 00:05:00.630 --> 00:05:05.630 technologies. And our goal is to put through a process where they come out stronger in the end 57 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:10.800 because they've addressed all of these challenges. [John] So we were talking about 58 00:05:10.890 --> 00:05:15.890 technologies that were funded by government funds. Either in a government lab or 59 00:05:16.900 --> 00:05:21.900 universities, things like that where we have actually provided the funding to get something developed. 60 00:05:23.080 --> 00:05:28.080 So who are some of these partners that you are working with on this federally funded 61 00:05:29.210 --> 00:05:33.210 technology. [Nadia] Right, so it's interesting because we actually work with both Government and the private 62 00:05:33.210 --> 00:05:38.210 sector to try to maximize these opportunities. So on the one hand, when we select 63 00:05:38.210 --> 00:05:43.210 technologies we're working with multiple sources of R&D, basically 64 00:05:44.290 --> 00:05:49.290 everywhere where federal R&D is going on. So that includes the federal laboratories, including some of the 65 00:05:50.310 --> 00:05:55.310 Department of Energy's National Labs as well as Department of Defense affiliated labs, FFRDC's 66 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:01.480 and universities. So really a lot different sources that we pull from. On the other hand 67 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:07.600 we're also working with government agencies and DHS components and the private sector and their the 68 00:06:08.660 --> 00:06:13.660 ones that are helping pilot these technologies giving us feedback in requirements about them 69 00:06:14.900 --> 00:06:19.900 and ultimately help us by piloting and licensing the technologies as they are coming out of 70 00:06:21.090 --> 00:06:26.090 the program. So it's really kind of both sides and we're acting as a connector 71 00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:33.220 between those two sides in creating these partnerships. [John] Wow! You know Dr. Carlsten, you 72 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:39.300 come with a background in intellectual property management 73 00:06:40.320 --> 00:06:45.320 enterprise innovation, I know you worked in the past at Accenture and at the Department of Energy 74 00:06:46.510 --> 00:06:51.510 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 75 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:56.620 evaluating technology. So how to you choose the technologies that you're pulling out 76 00:06:56.880 --> 00:07:01.880 of the labs and bringing into the program. [Nadia] That's a great question. So I'm primarily 77 00:07:02.030 --> 00:07:07.030 looking for two things. Number one, it's good that the technology 78 00:07:07.050 --> 00:07:12.050 is innovative in some way. It needs to have a new approach in addressing the problem 79 00:07:12.170 --> 00:07:17.170 because it is so hard to transition technologies out of these labs it really needs to be 80 00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:22.220 something new. We can't be just looking at incremental innovation. And ideally 81 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:26.460 there would be some intellectual property associated with it as well because that makes it a lot more 82 00:07:26.460 --> 00:07:31.460 attractive. And then the second thing that we take into consideration 83 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:36.600 is what we know about the existing landscape. So timing and alignment are very critical 84 00:07:36.630 --> 00:07:41.630 in this process. We have to make sure that all of the technologies that we are advancing are 85 00:07:41.820 --> 00:07:46.820 actually good and appealing and interesting to users and investors down the road. 86 00:07:46.900 --> 00:07:51.900 [John] You say existing landscape, it's kind of like an awareness of what'sgoing on in the world 87 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:57.160 like kinds of things are needed. [Nadia] Absolutely. So we need to be in tune with the needs of operational 88 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:02.310 users, both in the government as well as in the industry. So one of the things that we do is 89 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:07.360 engagement with those users to actually learn more about their 90 00:08:07.370 --> 00:08:12.370 needs. What technologies already exist and what gaps are in 91 00:08:12.460 --> 00:08:17.460 those technologies. So what is it that we can bring to the table that they don't already have 92 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:22.470 access to in the commercial market. [John] Wow! So, what kinds of technologies 93 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:27.620 do you currently have in your program. [Nadia] So we've focused on cyber security applications 94 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:32.680 and we've built over the years a very strong a very diverse portfolio of technologies 95 00:08:32.900 --> 00:08:37.900 that is very diverse in terms of the topics, the cyber topics that it's addressing. 96 00:08:39.050 --> 00:08:44.050 So we have several network technologies. We also have several 97 00:08:45.050 --> 00:08:50.050 technologies that address the security of industrial infrastructure as well as critical 98 00:08:51.060 --> 00:08:56.060 infrastructure. And we have several tools that really are targeted towards 99 00:08:57.260 --> 00:09:02.260 Cyber Analysts, helping make their job easier. For example helping them analyze malware 100 00:09:03.270 --> 00:09:08.270 very quickly or respond to threats and gather intelligence about threats very quickly. And as you mentioned 101 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:14.330 that we also have a few technologies in the portfolio that are more in the realm of data analytics 102 00:09:15.330 --> 00:09:20.330 and visualization. So they have much broader applications and can potentially be interesting even to 103 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:26.340 people who may not be cyber security focused. [John] I know that these 104 00:09:29.510 --> 00:09:34.510 technologies go through a rigorous process. Can you kind of explain the process and how 105 00:09:36.520 --> 00:09:41.520 the technologies go through or evolve through the process when they are coming through TTP? [Nadia] Sure, yes. 106 00:09:43.520 --> 00:09:48.520 It is a rigorous process. So after they are selected as a cohort they go through a serious activities 107 00:09:49.570 --> 00:09:54.570 that really have been designed to, number one increase the maturity of the technology and then make 108 00:09:55.570 --> 00:10:00.570 them more ready for getting to the market place. So two things that we focus on 109 00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:06.680 The first one is validating the technology. And we do that including by 110 00:10:07.790 --> 00:10:12.790 doing testing of the capabilities. Testing of functionality and the security of the technology. 111 00:10:13.830 --> 00:10:18.830 Trying it out in different operational environments. And the second thing we look at is different applications 112 00:10:20.050 --> 00:10:25.050 different markets that we can be targeting and different business models to make the technology successful. 113 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:31.200 So the combination of those two things really give us a very good idea of what type of opportunities 114 00:10:31.210 --> 00:10:36.210 we should be pursuing for each technology. And then what we do is we have a series of 115 00:10:36.410 --> 00:10:41.410 demo days were we introduce the technologies to people. So different groups 116 00:10:41.530 --> 00:10:46.530 we try to get diverse crowds at each of the demo days. And they give us feedback and they give us 117 00:10:49.640 --> 00:10:54.640 information about what their need are and that interaction leads to very good information 118 00:10:55.690 --> 00:11:00.690 about who we should be targeting and helps us do so match making between our technologies 119 00:11:01.900 --> 00:11:06.900 and people who would be ideal candidates as development and commercialization partners. 120 00:11:08.040 --> 00:11:13.040 So by the end of the process what we're looking for is the technologies have had several 121 00:11:14.140 --> 00:11:19.140 rounds of interactions with users, they've gone through testing they've done a couple of pilots 122 00:11:20.170 --> 00:11:25.170 and that combined with the training that we make available means that they have a product that is now 123 00:11:26.380 --> 00:11:31.380 much strong much closer to the market place and much more appealing to licenses and investors. 124 00:11:32.510 --> 00:11:37.510 [John] Couple things you mentioned, one thing you mentioned was a cohort. 125 00:11:38.590 --> 00:11:43.590 Could you just briefly describe what you mean by a cohort? [Nadia] Sure. So each year when we select technologies 126 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:48.830 we usually select them in groups of about eight. So we have the 2017 cohort 127 00:11:51.030 --> 00:11:56.030 that is our latest cohort. That is a group of technologies that was selected in 2017, 128 00:11:57.040 --> 00:12:02.040 So most of the activity they do as a cohort so when you come to a demo day for example 129 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:08.120 you come and see the 2017 cohort of the 2016 cohort. [John] Got it. Great. That helps 130 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:14.360 to understand that process. And on the demo days you also talked about bringing a variety 131 00:12:15.550 --> 00:12:20.550 of people, so I'm assuming this is a combination of potential end users as well as 132 00:12:21.680 --> 00:12:26.680 potential investors at the demo days or do the investors kind of come in later? [Nadia] It's actually a combination 133 00:12:27.690 --> 00:12:32.690 So, partnerships in general with the private sectors has really been key to our success. And we kind of 134 00:12:33.900 --> 00:12:38.900 see people interested in the program coming from all backgrounds. For technology investors, they love to come 135 00:12:40.050 --> 00:12:45.050 to the demo days because it's really a one stop shop for them to see technologies that have been pulled from 136 00:12:45.110 --> 00:12:50.110 all across the labs across the U.S. And we've done quite a bit of work in de-risking the technology 137 00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:56.350 for them by having it go through our validation process. But the interaction with 138 00:12:57.550 --> 00:13:02.550 system integrators and IT professionals, cyber security professionals that also attend the demo days 139 00:13:02.650 --> 00:13:07.650 is very valuable. So they're the ones that give us a lot firsthand information about what the 140 00:13:07.870 --> 00:13:12.870 needs are, what the specific work requirements are and also information about whether their interested. 141 00:13:13.010 --> 00:13:18.010 in doing a pilot or not. So it's really this ability to pull from different groups that makes the demo day 142 00:13:18.060 --> 00:13:23.060 such a great event. [John] Great! Great! For those of you just tuning in. shame on you for being late 143 00:13:24.330 --> 00:13:29.330 but you'll be able to watch the early part in the replay once it's posted. But 144 00:13:30.520 --> 00:13:35.520 we are here with Dr. Nadia Carlsten who is with the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology 145 00:13:36.630 --> 00:13:41.630 Directorate, and who runs the Transition to Practice program helping to transition prototype 146 00:13:42.670 --> 00:13:47.670 technologies out of government funded research and into the commercial market. So 147 00:13:48.900 --> 00:13:53.900 Nadia, just going back to this concept of making this transition, how 148 00:13:55.060 --> 00:14:00.060 do you...you talk about the demo days as one these opportunities so kind of explain a little bit 149 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:05.120 for us how the technologies get connected to the market place. [Nadia] Right. So we're very focused on 150 00:14:06.370 --> 00:14:11.370 commercialization but we are very flexible in terms of the transition path. So every 151 00:14:12.540 --> 00:14:17.540 technology tends to get there in a different way. Mainly licensing agreements are the 152 00:14:18.540 --> 00:14:23.540 way that we facilitate transition. So there's kind of a couple scenarios. The first one is 153 00:14:23.540 --> 00:14:28.540 an established company coming to us looking for a technology 154 00:14:28.690 --> 00:14:33.690 either because they have something on the market already and they are looking for 155 00:14:33.770 --> 00:14:38.770 IP to complement what they already have and they can license it from us instead of reinventing 156 00:14:38.770 --> 00:14:43.770 the wheel on their own. But they could also be coming to us because they want to get into 157 00:14:43.900 --> 00:14:48.900 a new market or create a brand new product line. So we've actually worked with both kinds. 158 00:14:48.910 --> 00:14:53.910 Another way that we support commercialization is by helping create new start-ups. 159 00:14:54.060 --> 00:14:59.060 So that's actually very exciting. So the technologies spin off 160 00:14:59.140 --> 00:15:04.140 of the labs and the universities and in those cases we work investors to help get them set up 161 00:15:04.370 --> 00:15:09.370 with funding and helping the company being formed. But we've formed seven such 162 00:15:09.510 --> 00:15:14.510 start-ups that didn't create previously and their now 163 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:19.560 trying to sell a product on the market and they're fully fleshed companies. 164 00:15:19.950 --> 00:15:24.950 Another thing that we do is we support open source which a lot 165 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:29.950 people don't realize because we're so focused on commercialization but in some cases that is the best 166 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:34.960 way to get the technology to a lot of users so it is a model that we 167 00:15:35.110 --> 00:15:40.110 support in some cases. And of course we have also been able to transition technologies back to 168 00:15:40.180 --> 00:15:45.180 government users in many cases. So taking the technology that was funded by one agency 169 00:15:45.400 --> 00:15:50.400 an introducing it to another federal agency tends to be something that we do quite a bit of. 170 00:15:50.520 --> 00:15:55.520 [John] I never even thought of that. That kind of makes sense 171 00:15:55.550 --> 00:15:59.710 and I would have never thought it. We are getting some questions from Facebook thank you folks. So one of the 172 00:15:59.710 --> 00:16:03.730 questions is, "Are there limits to how developed the tech needs to be 173 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:07.730 in order to be selected" And is it limited to brand new technology?" 174 00:16:07.730 --> 00:16:12.730 [Nadia] So, in terms of maturation level. We usually look 175 00:16:13.830 --> 00:16:18.830 at something that's beyond the proof of concept stage. 176 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.840 It doesn't need to be much beyond that. So, it can be brand new it s usually 177 00:16:26.040 --> 00:16:31.040 if not a new technology a new approach to do something. And I think the second part of 178 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:37.200 the questions is, "Does it need to be brand new technology?" No, not really if there is some 179 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:43.200 new intellectual property or if it addresses a problem in a new way we'll consider that as well. [John] Ok. 180 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:49.460 And another question was about the demo days. And so "Where are these demo 181 00:16:50.690 --> 00:16:55.690 days held?" I know that we hold them in various locations and for various types of audiences. 182 00:16:56.700 --> 00:17:01.700 So, where are they held and when is the next one? [Nadia] So, we do try to have them in different 183 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:07.740 locations so that we can really attract a lot of different groups to come to the demo days. We usually have 184 00:17:08.970 --> 00:17:13.970 four to five a year. We always have one in Washington D.C. and one in Silicon Valley. 185 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:20.140 And then to try to target different sectors, we try different cities. So we've had one in New York 186 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:26.150 for a few years where we really try to appeal to the financial services sector. And we've done one in 187 00:17:27.150 --> 00:17:32.150 Texas a couple times to showcase the technologies to people from the gas and oil 188 00:17:33.350 --> 00:17:38.350 industries. So those were very interesting. The next one we're planning will probably be 189 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:44.480 sometime in September. So I would say if somebody is interested in attending the demo day they should 190 00:17:44.520 --> 00:17:49.520 send us an email so we can put them on the mailing list and they will have all of the details about the next 191 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:54.720 one. [John] Great! We will have the email address up on the page here shortly. 192 00:17:54.830 --> 00:17:59.830 Meanwhile, who are the target audiences you try to engage with 193 00:18:01.910 --> 00:18:06.910 on these technologies. Like who are the end users and who are the...what types of industries 194 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.920 are you looking for? [Nadia] So in terms of industries it could really be 195 00:18:12.030 --> 00:18:17.030 anyone. Cyber security is such a broad problem that we really tend to get 196 00:18:17.090 --> 00:18:22.090 people from anything from healthcare to energy to consumer products 197 00:18:24.100 --> 00:18:29.100 so industry doesn't matter as much. What we like to see are people who are somewhat technical 198 00:18:31.110 --> 00:18:36.110 who are going to be able to understand the technology and its application and it's possible 199 00:18:36.330 --> 00:18:41.330 utility. In terms of types of organizations, we've worked with large organizations 200 00:18:42.470 --> 00:18:47.470 we've worked with very small organizations, so really that doesn't matter to us [John] Startups! [Nadia] Exactly! 201 00:18:48.560 --> 00:18:52.770 So what we're really looking for is somebody who has an interest in licensing these technologies or if he's 202 00:18:52.770 --> 00:18:57.770 exploring that as a possibility. Or who has the opportunity 203 00:18:58.780 --> 00:19:03.780 to pilot some of these technologies. Maybe they have a test or operational environment that they're 204 00:19:04.860 --> 00:19:09.860 interested in, in seeing how these technologies perform. [John] Pilot opportunities is 205 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:16.120 very interesting. I think a lot of people are going to be interested to know more about. So let's... 206 00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:22.130 So let me ask you this. You've been very successful in this program, I think there have been about 207 00:19:23.130 --> 00:19:28.130 40 technologies that have been brought into the program since its inception and you recently 208 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:34.180 transitioned your 20th. So literately half your portfolio is already now transitioned which is a 209 00:19:35.430 --> 00:19:40.430 fabulous success rate. What made this so successful and can you give us a few examples of some of these 210 00:19:41.430 --> 00:19:46.430 successful transition? [Nadia] Right. Yeah so it is a remarkable milestone, one that we're very excited about. 211 00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:52.520 In terms of what has made us successful, I think, as a program its 212 00:19:53.580 --> 00:19:58.580 the fact that we do tackle all of the different problems in bridging this value 213 00:19:59.580 --> 00:20:04.580 that we talked about earlier. We're helping to create start-ups, we're helping 214 00:20:05.760 --> 00:20:10.760 them find funding we're also helping with licensing. Our flexibility in really finding the best 215 00:20:11.770 --> 00:20:16.770 way for each technology to become commercially available is something that makes us 216 00:20:17.020 --> 00:20:22.020 makes us unique and differentiates us. And also helps us get very 217 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:29.210 good partners in this development and commercialization process. And that's very important 218 00:20:30.370 --> 00:20:35.370 because everything we do we do in partnership. With on the one hand, the research community 219 00:20:36.370 --> 00:20:41.370 and on the other hand with the private sector and our government users. In terms of the technologies 220 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:47.400 themselves they've all be very different. They all span different topic areas. 221 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:53.410 I'd say what they all in common was the fact that they all approached a problem in a very unique way. 222 00:20:54.520 --> 00:20:59.520 And they we're also very strong from a technical and intellectual property standpoint so that made it very 223 00:20:59.530 --> 00:21:04.530 easy to get high caliber partners interested in the technologies. 224 00:21:04.690 --> 00:21:09.680 So one of the examples of that was PATHSCAN, which was a TTP technology 225 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.680 that was licensed by Ernst & Young and it's actually still now being used 226 00:21:14.910 --> 00:21:19.910 and it's very successful for them they are using it as part of their cyber security services. 227 00:21:20.040 --> 00:21:25.040 Another example. [John] Can you tell us what that one, what it is or what it does? 228 00:21:25.050 --> 00:21:30.050 [Nadia] Sure, so it helps people detect network anomalies. So as you can imagine that's actually 229 00:21:30.230 --> 00:21:35.230 very important, especially for large enterprises. An another one is 230 00:21:35.330 --> 00:21:40.330 PACRAT. So very different in terms of technology, that one really focuses on 231 00:21:40.560 --> 00:21:45.560 physical security, blending it with cyber security. So again 232 00:21:45.710 --> 00:21:50.710 very unique type of technology. And that one was licensed to be integrated 233 00:21:50.760 --> 00:21:55.760 in something that was already on the market. Which was different from PATHSCAN. 234 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.960 and that one is commercially available as well. And the really interesting 235 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:05.960 thing is its now also being used in a couple of government organizations which is 236 00:22:05.970 --> 00:22:10.970 pretty cool. And then in terms of start-ups our latest ones Cynash 237 00:22:12.150 --> 00:22:17.150 just received a round. They're integrating a couple of technologies that they found through the TTP 238 00:22:18.270 --> 00:22:23.270 program. These were nature inspired cyber security technologies. And they're using them 239 00:22:24.270 --> 00:22:29.270 [John] Nature inspired? [Nadia] Nature inspired security [John] Ok! [Nadia] And they're using them to protect 240 00:22:30.530 --> 00:22:35.530 industrial control systems and critical infrastructure. [John] Can you explain what you mean by nature 241 00:22:36.700 --> 00:22:41.700 inspired and give us a little detail on that one? [Nadia] Sure! So one of the technologies is called 242 00:22:42.800 --> 00:22:47.800 millstones. And it�s actually very interesting. It uses| the same principles 243 00:22:48.850 --> 00:22:53.850 as biologists use for protein sequencing to group 244 00:22:55.070 --> 00:23:00.070 classes or families or proteins together and applying it to cyber security. 245 00:23:01.080 --> 00:23:06.080 So very unique approach as you can imagine. And we're just very 246 00:23:07.170 --> 00:23:12.170 excited that Cynash is now going to be using it in conjunction with some other technologies 247 00:23:13.170 --> 00:23:18.170 to actually address this really important problem of critical infrastructure. [John] Wow, excellent. 248 00:23:19.370 --> 00:23:24.370 Well we're getting some more questions in so let's go to the poll here. 249 00:23:25.520 --> 00:23:30.520 Tech adoption rates within First Responder communities have been historically forced upon sharp end 250 00:23:31.590 --> 00:23:36.590 users. Those actually doing the work, from up stream to downstream in organizations. 251 00:23:37.840 --> 00:23:42.840 "How can technology advancements and adoption rates be moved in the opposite direction as the end user is 252 00:23:42.980 --> 00:23:47.980 actually in position to see how modifying technology can be altered to reduce 253 00:23:48.040 --> 00:23:53.040 gaps?" Kind of a long question, but I think we have the gist of it. 254 00:23:53.260 --> 00:23:58.260 [Nadia] Ok, I think what they're asking is how can the end users actually be a participant in 255 00:23:58.390 --> 00:24:03.390 this process. [John] Yes. [Nadia] That's easy for me to answer because for example 256 00:24:03.390 --> 00:24:08.390 in our demo days, we get a lot of end users that come and actually see the 257 00:24:08.560 --> 00:24:13.560 technologies in action. That's why it's call the demo day because you actually come in 258 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:18.640 touch the technology, see how it works, ask a lot of questions from the person that actually 259 00:24:18.650 --> 00:24:23.650 developed it. So we're very much trying to appeal to the people who are 260 00:24:23.770 --> 00:24:28.770 out there in the field using the technologies or interested in the technologies. 261 00:24:28.810 --> 00:24:33.810 In terms of the licensing then we work with usually a different part of the organizations. 262 00:24:33.990 --> 00:24:38.990 But it's very important to have that buy-in from the actual user or the actual analyst. 263 00:24:39.080 --> 00:24:44.080 [John] So, let's say an end user comes to one of your demo days and you 264 00:24:44.330 --> 00:24:49.330 showcase this technology that does this. They 265 00:24:49.340 --> 00:24:54.340 then could validate whether that technology would be useful to them or if they would need 266 00:24:54.390 --> 00:24:59.390 a modification. Is that what these demo days would be for? [Nadia] Absolutely. The demo days 267 00:24:59.600 --> 00:25:04.600 is the starting point to a longer conversation. So if there is interest 268 00:25:04.610 --> 00:25:09.610 if it looks like it's going to meet their needs then the next step usually to try to talk 269 00:25:09.610 --> 00:25:14.610 about a pilot. And what we help do with a pilot is it's an opportunity 270 00:25:14.770 --> 00:25:19.770 for that end user to work hand and hand with the person who developed the 271 00:25:19.830 --> 00:25:24.830 technology. Now that's very important and something that doesn't exist else ware. Usually 272 00:25:25.020 --> 00:25:30.020 somebody's interested in the technology they have to license it and that's it, right? 273 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:35.140 They're on their own trying to make it work. That doesn't work. Which is why we 274 00:25:35.150 --> 00:25:40.150 really support these pilots. And that gives that end user an opportunity to 275 00:25:40.150 --> 00:25:45.150 for a short period of time, three months maybe six month depending on the technology, 276 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:50.160 to try it out in their environment, have that developer as a resource to 277 00:25:50.390 --> 00:25:55.390 ask questions. If there is something unique about the use case or 278 00:25:55.510 --> 00:26:00.510 something that's unique about the requirements, then we can have the discussions about making the modification 279 00:26:00.550 --> 00:26:05.550 for them as well. [John] Cool. Alright, thank you. and so, "How does 280 00:26:07.790 --> 00:26:12.790 your program handle Moore's Law regarding technological advancements?" Government 281 00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:17.940 entities tend to be slower in adopting technology then the private sector. 282 00:26:17.950 --> 00:26:22.950 And can you explain what Moore's Law is for those of us who don't? [Nadia] So 283 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:28.180 I'm not sure what he means by Moore's Law in this context but in terms of the... 284 00:26:28.190 --> 00:26:33.190 I see what he or she's getting at in terms of the adoption 285 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:38.200 problem. So government agencies are slower to procure technologies 286 00:26:43.260 --> 00:26:48.260 normally then industry. That's something that we have seen as well. One of the ways that we mitigate 287 00:26:48.470 --> 00:26:53.470 that is by working with industry as well as government. So since we are trying to commercialize 288 00:26:53.600 --> 00:26:58.600 these technologies it doesn't necessarily get in the way of our process too much. 289 00:26:58.620 --> 00:27:03.620 What we try to do is that for every technology we actually try to pursue 290 00:27:04.810 --> 00:27:09.810 a government end user as well as private sector end user. And the reason we do that, it's 291 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:15.940 not just so that it makes the probability of success bigger but it's also because 292 00:27:16.950 --> 00:27:21.950 while government is slower they also have, usually, some very unique requirements 293 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:27.960 and use cases where they want to use this technology. So if we're able to work with them it generally 294 00:27:29.140 --> 00:27:34.140 ends up making the technology that much stronger. [John] I think, also just the concept of the fact that, 295 00:27:36.300 --> 00:27:41.300 let's say you have a data analytics technology that you've created and if that becomes part of a commercial product 296 00:27:43.430 --> 00:27:48.430 the government is not necessarily looking to buy that data analytics technology itself but they may be looking to buy 297 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:53.440 a product and now it has this new feature in it. So I guess the government still benefits 298 00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:58.620 in the long run. [Nadia] Absolutely, everything we do the government will benefit in the long run. 299 00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:03.630 But what we're saying is, instead of trying to transition government technologies back 300 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:08.640 to government, which is a process that is very difficult for some of the reasons 301 00:28:08.760 --> 00:28:13.760 the audience mentioned. Let's try to commercialize the technologies 302 00:28:13.790 --> 00:28:18.790 so that they can benefit as many people as possible an a lot of cases those technologies will 303 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:23.960 end up being procured by the government. But it's a lot easier for the government to procure something that's 304 00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:28.960 already on the shelf and try to tinker with the technology that's in a lab and without the support 305 00:28:29.190 --> 00:28:34.190 and the services that they need. [John] That makes no sense. So, you know this is 306 00:28:36.410 --> 00:28:41.410 not something that normally government folks get involved with. You have a 307 00:28:42.570 --> 00:28:47.570 doctorate in engineering. So this whole commercialization process is a whole different 308 00:28:48.650 --> 00:28:53.650 realm. So one of the questions that came in here is What are some new and different things that 309 00:28:54.920 --> 00:28:59.920 you've learned about commercialization as you've implemented this program. [Nadia] Yeah that a interesting 310 00:29:01.130 --> 00:29:06.130 question. So, I've actually been in commercialization pretty much my entire career. 311 00:29:07.290 --> 00:29:12.290 So, soon after I got my Ph.D. ended up going to the dark side of business. 312 00:29:13.360 --> 00:29:18.360 And my interest has always been creating value out of technology and not technology for its own 313 00:29:19.360 --> 00:29:24.360 sake but helping use it to either grow a company or start a company. 314 00:29:25.520 --> 00:29:30.520 So TTP was just a natural fit for me. What I've learned is 315 00:29:31.630 --> 00:29:36.630 how different how things seem on this side. So I've been on the commercial side where 316 00:29:37.670 --> 00:29:42.670 trying to help organizations license technologies from government and advising 317 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:48.680 companies on how to make the best use of their intellectual property. Now 318 00:29:49.820 --> 00:29:54.820 my role is really as a connector between that private sector and with these 319 00:29:55.910 --> 00:30:00.910 research organizations that are really government organizations. So, it's interesting because I see where the 320 00:30:01.930 --> 00:30:06.930 private sector is coming from but I've also had the experience of working for government 321 00:30:07.940 --> 00:30:12.940 organization. So in a lot of ways I'm a translator sometimes a mediator 322 00:30:14.070 --> 00:30:19.070 between the two sides and it's a lot of fun. [John] And we have another question, "Is a 323 00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:25.140 gold roadmap involved?" Do we have any gold roadmap 324 00:30:26.380 --> 00:30:31.380 is or what the reference is? [Nadia] I'm not sure what the reference to gold is. 325 00:30:32.390 --> 00:30:37.390 [John] Well, whoever submitted that question if you want to elaborate on that, that'd be great. Meanwhile, 326 00:30:38.520 --> 00:30:43.520 could you tell us how people can engage with your program? [Nadia] So the best way to engage is 327 00:30:44.570 --> 00:30:49.570 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 328 00:30:50.790 --> 00:30:55.790 resources on the webpage including information about our past transitions. And one of the things they should look 329 00:30:55.900 --> 00:31:00.900 for is the TTP Tech Guide. So the Tech Guide has descriptions of all of the technologies 330 00:31:01.910 --> 00:31:06.910 that have been in the TTP program, including the current technologies that are still active. 331 00:31:08.120 --> 00:31:13.120 And once they take a look at that, if they're interested they should just shoot us an email 332 00:31:14.310 --> 00:31:19.310 and tell us which technology they are interested in having more conversations about and we'll of course 333 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:25.420 get in touch. Another thing that we've already talked about is the demo days. If you're able to attend a demo day 334 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:30.440 you absolutely should. It's a great way to get engaged with the program and really see the technologies 335 00:31:30.610 --> 00:31:35.610 in action. [John] Excellent! Well we have run almost the gambit of time so I 336 00:31:38.780 --> 00:31:43.780 will say if you have more questions, please continue to submit them even after this broadcast, this live broadcast 337 00:31:45.790 --> 00:31:50.790 is over, because we will go back and try to answer those questions to the best of our ability. And also obviously 338 00:31:52.890 --> 00:31:57.890 reach out on our webpage and through the email address that's on your screen. 339 00:31:59.950 --> 00:32:04.950 So, like to just talk about what's next for the program what do you see coming down the pike? 340 00:32:06.970 --> 00:32:11.970 [Nadia] So we have still a couple cohorts of technologies that are still active so of course we will be planning 341 00:32:12.120 --> 00:32:17.120 demo days and looking for opportunities to keep showcasing them. Another really 342 00:32:17.190 --> 00:32:22.190 interesting thing that's going on is, because we've been so successful in transitioning and commercializing 343 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:27.400 cyber security technologies, we've been asked to look into expanding 344 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:32.500 into technical areas beyond cyber and trying to find technologies that address 345 00:32:32.530 --> 00:32:37.530 other types of national security challenges. So that's going to be very 346 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:42.680 exciting for us to look into. And as we are putting together the next 347 00:32:42.750 --> 00:32:47.750 cohort of technologies that should be a really exciting process. [John] That sounds very 348 00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:52.960 exciting. I'm looking to seeing what kind of technologies you work on in the future. 349 00:32:53.110 --> 00:32:58.110 Dr. Carlsten, thank you so much for taking the time to join us this morning. 350 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:03.160 I'm hoping that we've answered everyone's questions except for the one question that we 351 00:33:03.170 --> 00:33:08.170 didn't quite understand but hopefully they'll get back to us and explain that a little bit and then we can 352 00:33:08.270 --> 00:33:13.270 respond to them. And I'll remind you, please do continue to submit your questions 353 00:33:13.270 --> 00:33:18.270 we will get back to you and provide answers. Visit our website. And 354 00:33:18.430 --> 00:33:23.430 most important tune into our next Tech Talk. The Science and Technology Directorate of the 355 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:28.440 Department of Homeland Security is doing really cool work and our Tech Talks are here to try to explain those 356 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:32.330 programs. Thanks for tuning in.