Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate: Developing Technology to Protect America

In response to a congressional mandate and in consultation with Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the National Academy conducted a review of S&T's effectiveness and efficiency in addressing homeland security needs. This review included a particular focus that identified any unnecessary duplication of effort, and opportunity costs arising from an emphasis on homeland security-related research. Under the direction of the National Academy Panel, the study team reviewed a wide variety of documents related to S&T and homeland security-related research in general. The team also conducted interviews with more than 200 individuals, including S&T officials and staff, officials from other DHS component agencies, other federal agencies engaged in homeland security-related research, and experts from outside government in science policy, homeland security-related research and other scientific fields.Key FindingsThe results of this effort indicated that S&T faces a significant challenge in marshaling the resources of multiple federal agencies to work together to develop a homeland security-related strategic plan for all agencies. Yet the importance of this role should not be underestimated. The very process of working across agencies to develop and align the federal homeland security research enterprise around a forward-focused plan is critical to ensuring that future efforts support a common vision and goals, and that the metrics by which to measure national progress, and make changes as needed, are in place

Insurance Professionals\u27 Use of Best Practices in Enterprise Risk Management

The enterprise risk management framework might be a holistic response to strategic and operational risk management. However, a lack of integrity and silo-based traditions prevent the holistic approach to risk management practices. The problem was that although researchers had investigated this issue, there is a limited understanding of insurance professionals\u27 use of best practices in enterprise risk management. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to investigate the insurance professionals\u27 use of best practices like: (a) fit and proper regulatory requirements, (b) three lines of defense model, (c) risk culture, (d) link to strategy, and (e) risk appetite statements to manage enterprise risk. The theories undergirding this study included the general systems theory, the expected utility theory, the prospect theory, stakeholder theory, culture theory, groupthink, and agency theory. The study provided a system-based framework of risk management practices for better decision-making. This study collected data from 18 semistructured interviews with insurance professionals, triangulating the results with external and internal artifacts. Data analysis used pattern-matching logic. The study’s results confirmed the lack of a holistic approach to risk management where insurers use traditional procedures to comply with regulatory requirements. The prevalence of the compliance-based culture over the risk-aware culture might lead to potential issues. The study’s positive social change implication might be effective risk management practices in insurance organizations and the industry

Missouri S&T Magazine Spring 2019

https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/alumni-magazine/1008/thumbnail.jp

Flyer News, Vol. 57, No. 21

Student-run newspaper of the University of Dayton

The Echo: November 30, 2012

‘A Walking Stigma’: Same-gender attraction sparks discussion – Taylor international programs earn praise – Creating Campus Recreation – Top 5 News Events of the Week – Congress seeks to avoid falling off fiscal cliff – In The Loop – Letterman hosts discussion with Oprah at BSU – A guide to local Christmastime destinations – Weekly Forecast – Marion CSA hosts art auction – Behind the Times – Rocket Retaliation – Steadfast Reconciliation – Around The World – Hilarious Headlines – From Mubarak to Morsi – The Geek Briefs – An unexpected frame rate – Bogus privacy notice plagues Facebook – World AIDS Day: the world remembers as scientists search for a cure – All aboard the Gerig Polar Express – Redefining dead week – Restart your soul – Restore your focus – No-Shave November: The Best of Taylor – Little Trojan – Samgrams – #TaylorU’s Top Tweets – Bond is Back – A merrie festival – Sounds of shalom – And now our Feature Presentation – A blend of interests – Craig & Friends: A down-home salon – Lossology 101 – Inglorious soldiers – Letter to the editor – Bleed Blue Blood Drive – The Waterboy – Jack Taylor – Crossroads League – Scoreboard – Trojans’ seven-game win streak snapped on buzzer-beater – Weekly Preview – Fantasy Feed – Trojans go 2-0 in Crossroads League after win against Mount Vernon Nazarene – Athlete of the Weekhttps://pillars.taylor.edu/echo-2012-2013/1011/thumbnail.jp

The Influence of Professional Development as Perceived by In-Service Military Instructors

At a new military school, leaders worried that professional development (PD) for their novel curriculum did not induce consistent changes in their military instructors. Transformative learning theory suggested reconstructing frames of reference could help inform practices for military instructors. To fulfill the purpose of the study, current research provided a conceptual framework to assess the effectiveness of the PD effort. The research questions examined instructor perceptions of the school’s instructional strategy, their willingness to modify lessons, and to conduct assessments of learning outcomes. School leaders proffered 18 of their most effective instructors as a sample population for a case study. Data were collected from 10 participating instructors and compared with information from direct observation, student comments, and semi-structured interviews. Member checking, data triangulation, and a blind peer-review provided confidence in the 4 emergent themes of an inductive data coding process. Results pointed to strong instructor appreciation for PD and a desire for more. Instructor performance was influenced by peer coaching, a lack of developmental feedback, and inconsistencies in assessment strategies. Instructor collaboration efforts suggested the utility of a professional learning community (PLC) as a way to improve PD effectiveness. The results of this study apply to the broader military and higher education domains where PD programs are routinely found lacking. In terms of positive social change, skilled instructors significantly improve learner outcomes. Learners, with robust assessments of their competencies, should enhance the effectiveness and productivity of the communities they join as graduates. Effective PD is a way to accomplish this positive social change goal

Information Systems Security Countermeasures: An Assessment of Older Workers in Indonesian Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Information Systems (IS) misuse can result in cyberattacks such as denial-of-service, phishing, malware, and business email compromise. The study of factors that contribute to the misuse of IS resources is well-documented and empirical research has supported the value of approaches that can be used to deter IS misuse among employees; however, age and cultural nuances exist. Research focusing on older workers and how they can help to deter IS misuse among employees and support cybersecurity countermeasures within developing countries is in its nascent stages. The goal of this study was two-fold. The first goal was to assess what older workers within Indonesian Small to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) do to acquire, apply, and share information security countermeasures aimed at mitigating cyberattacks. The second goal was to assess if and how younger workers share information security countermeasures with their older colleagues. Using a qualitative case study approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five dyads of older (50-55 years) and younger (25-45 years) workers from five SMBs in Jakarta, Indonesia. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the interview data, where each dyad represented a unit of analysis. The data were organized into three main themes including 1) Indonesian government IS policy and oversight, which included one topic (stronger government IS oversight needed); 2) SMB IS practices, which included three topics (SMB management issues, SMB budget constraints, SMB diligent IS practices, and IS insider threat); and 3) SMB worker IS practices, which included three topics (younger worker job performance, IS worker compliance issues, older worker IS practices) and five sub-topics under older worker IS practices (older worker diligent in IS, older worker IS challenged, older worker riskier IS practices, older worker more IS dependent, and older worker more forgetful on IS practices). Results indicated that older and younger workers at Indonesian SMBs acquire, apply, and share information security countermeasures in a similar manner: through IS information dissemination from the SMB and through communication from co-workers. Also, while younger workers share IS countermeasures freely with their older co-workers, some have negative perceptions that older co-workers are slower and less proficient in IS. Overall, participants reported positive and cohesive teamwork between older and younger workers at SMBs through strong IS collaboration and transparent information sharing. The contribution of this research is that it provides valuable empirical data on older worker behavior and social dynamics in Indonesian organizations. This was a context-specific study aimed at better understanding the situationalities of older workers within organizations in the developing country of Indonesia and how knowledge is shared within the organization. This assessment of cybersecurity knowledge acquisition, skill implementation, and knowledge sharing contributes to the development of organization-wide cybersecurity practices that can be used to strengthen Indonesian SMBs and other organizations in developing countries. This study also provides a blueprint for researchers to replicate and extend this line of inquiry. Finally, the results could shed light on how older workers can be a productive part of the solution to information security issues in the workplace

OSINT Research Studios: A Flexible Crowdsourcing Framework to Scale Up Open Source Intelligence Investigations

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations, which rely entirely on publicly available data such as social media, play an increasingly important role in solving crimes and holding governments accountable. The growing volume of data and complex nature of tasks, however, means there is a pressing need to scale and speed up OSINT investigations. Expert-led crowdsourcing approaches show promise but tend to either focus on narrow tasks or domains or require resource-intense, long-term relationships between expert investigators and crowds. We address this gap by providing a flexible framework that enables investigators across domains to enlist crowdsourced support for the discovery and verification of OSINT. We use a design-based research (DBR) approach to develop OSINT Research Studios (ORS), a sociotechnical system in which novice crowds are trained to support professional investigators with complex OSINT investigations. Through our qualitative evaluation, we found that ORS facilitates ethical and effective OSINT investigations across multiple domains. We also discuss broader implications of expert-crowd collaboration and opportunities for future work.Comment: To be published in CSCW 202

Evaluating an Evidenced Based Program: Ruling Our Experiences (ROX) for 9/10-year-old girls in the Yough School District

During elementary school years, girls experience social, emotional, and physical changes that affect their abilities to manage relationships and establish positive images of themselves. Given the aforementioned issues, girls need effective elementary school programming to support positive self-esteem and the development of girls’ Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies. The purpose of this mixed-method study focused on evaluating the Ruling Our Experiences (ROX) program for 9/10-year-old girls. The methods used were designed to address the three research questions: Based on the implementation of the ROX program in Yough elementary schools, to what extent do participants exhibit a greater level of positive self-esteem? How do the participants of the ROX program demonstrate Social-Emotional Learning Competencies? To what extent do the participants view the ROX program as creating a safe space for support in their daily lives? Thirty-six fourth grade girls participated in the study. Participants completed a pretest and posttest of ten Likert-Scale items in the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE Scale). Eighteen girls participated in two focus groups that sought their perception of the effectiveness of the program. The results of a paired-samples t-test demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the participants’ RSES scores following the study. Data from focus group 1 and focus group 2 indicated participants’ growth in their knowledge and understanding of SEL and their abilities to apply skills from the ROX program into their everyday lives. The results suggest a need for girls to have specific programs in elementary school to support their self-esteem and SEL