DHS Workshop -- Homeland Security: New Challenges for Decision Making Under Uncertainty
A workshop addressing the decision-making challenges confronted by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the face of large uncertainties, complex value systems, and multiple stakeholders was held November 13-14, 2003, in Washington, D.C. Forty-six participants drawn from the DHS, other government agencies, universities, national laboratories, and the private sector attended the workshop. The goals were: (1) to develop a common understanding of the range of decisions DHS program elements must make; (2) to review selected examples of decision processes and approaches used by other organizations for similarly complex problems; and (3) to recommend steps DHS can take to ensure high quality decision making. The workshop brought together diverse perspectives on decision making in the context of complex risks. Participants included those who must make decisions affecting homeland security, those who have faced risky decisions in other domains, and those who have developed theoretical and practical approaches to high quality decision-making. The workshop was sponsored by the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate, but was intended to address issues of concern to the three DHS operating directorates as well as S&T. The purpose of this breadth was to identify areas in which S&T capabilities and resources could be valuable to DHS as a whole. The workshop consisted of three main segments: (1) Presentations by managers from DHS Directorates, reflecting the diverse nature of decision making across DHS; (2) Presentations on four alternative approaches used to address problems in both government (counter-terrorism R&D investment; identification of critical capabilities in bioterrorism) and the private sector (corporate strategy development; terrorism insurance); and (3) Breakout groups chartered to identify barriers and propose actions to address them, in each of five decision classes: (1) Portfolio management; (2) Grant allocation; (3) Critical one-time policy decisions; (4) Real-time operational decisions; (5) SAFETY Act implementation. This report summarizes the proceedings of the workshop, including recommendations for next steps.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15013853
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-TR-202536; TRN: US200803%%920
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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