Human Factors and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Since its formation in 2002, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has understood the importance of human factors in achieving enhanced national security.  So much so, that they have a division devoted to the area.

The Human Factors Behavioral Sciences Division, which is part of the Science and Technology Directorate, has the following mission:

We will advance national security by developing and applying the social, behavioral, and physical sciences to improve identification and analysis of threats, to enhance societal resilience, and to integrate human capabilities into the development of technology.

In this effort, the division has several projects currently underway to meet their stated mission and objectives.  Some of the more interesting ones include:

• Counter-IED Actionable Indicators Project;
• Enhanced Screener-Technology Interface Project;
• Hostile Intent Detection; and
• Insider Threat Detection Program.

The interested reader can gain a better understanding of their work from this presentation (5.30 MB) by Dr. Sharla Rausch – Director of the Human Factors and Behavioral Science Division.