1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,076 [SILENCE] 2 00:00:10,076 --> 00:00:13,146 BRYAN: At the DHS Science and Technology Directorate 3 00:00:13,146 --> 00:00:16,916 we work with homeland security practitioners across government and industry 4 00:00:16,916 --> 00:00:21,521 to deliver tools and technologies to meet pressing homeland security challenges. 5 00:00:21,521 --> 00:00:25,392 One of the greatest challenges facing our nation today is the opioid epidemic – 6 00:00:25,392 --> 00:00:28,728 which has taken a devastating toll on far too many communities 7 00:00:28,728 --> 00:00:33,166 This has created an unprecedented public health crisis across the country. 8 00:00:33,166 --> 00:00:37,070 We know from studying this issue that international mail 9 00:00:37,070 --> 00:00:40,407 is a major route for illicit opioids entering the United States. 10 00:00:40,407 --> 00:00:44,310 The drug is commonly transported in nearly pure, powdered form. 11 00:00:44,310 --> 00:00:48,248 This presents large-scale drug traffickers with an attractive opportunity 12 00:00:48,248 --> 00:00:53,853 to use the mail to distribute large quantities of opioids in hard-to-detect small packages. 13 00:00:53,853 --> 00:00:55,789 To address this formidable problem, 14 00:00:55,789 --> 00:01:01,928 S&T launched a $1.5 million dollar global challenge on February 27 of this year 15 00:01:01,928 --> 00:01:05,165 to reach out to innovators to develop detection tools 16 00:01:05,165 --> 00:01:08,802 to help find illicit opioids in international mail. 17 00:01:08,802 --> 00:01:13,006 In the coming months, we’ll be working with our DHS colleagues 18 00:01:13,006 --> 00:01:17,143 at U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as the U.S. Postal Inspection Service 19 00:01:17,143 --> 00:01:22,115 and the Office of National Drug Control Policy to administer this Opioid Prize Challenge. 20 00:01:22,115 --> 00:01:24,417 At the conclusion of the prize challenge, 21 00:01:24,417 --> 00:01:28,054 S&T and our partners plan to work with providers of solutions 22 00:01:28,054 --> 00:01:31,291 deemed to be most promising to further develop prototypes 23 00:01:31,291 --> 00:01:34,194 and follow-on production agreements, as appropriate. 24 00:01:34,194 --> 00:01:37,964 Through this challenge, we hope to discover innovative ideas 25 00:01:37,964 --> 00:01:41,935 and bring solutions to our partners faster than traditional contracting methods allow. 26 00:01:41,935 --> 00:01:45,138 We must stop the flow of opioids into our country – 27 00:01:45,138 --> 00:01:47,073 and ultimately make our communities safer. 28 00:01:47,073 --> 00:01:49,909 We welcome your participation in this challenge. 29 00:01:49,909 --> 00:01:53,813 I hope you’ll join us in the search for solutions to combat the opioid epidemic 30 00:01:53,813 --> 00:01:57,817 and its tragic and deadly assault on American families and communities. 31 00:01:57,817 --> 00:02:09,929 [SILENCE]