Applying Recognized Economic Measures to DHS Infrastructure Sectors

NIHS has executed the contract for the Applying Recognized Economic Measures to DHS Infrastructure Sectors Project. This project will be led by Dr. Thomas Johnson with the University of Missouri.

The objective of this project is to determine the contribution of each of the 18 CIKR Sectors to the US GDP or other recognized economic indicator to provide additional metrics for informing the decision process for allocating resources.  A two-prong approach to the evaluation of the Critical Infrastructure/Key Resource (CIKR) sectors’ contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) is proposed in this project. The first-prong approach is to undertake a short-term effort to cursorily estimate the CIKR sectors’ GDP contribution.  The purpose of the short-term effort is to provide immediate GDP contribution estimates. 

The Challenge

The task of assuring the security of our homeland involves protecting the citizens of the United States, the nation's critical infrastructure and key assets. This is necessary to sustain the nation's vitality against terrorism and other threats. This protection must originate at the community level. It requires discovering, developing and deploying new technology that will support first responders and key decision makers in local communities.

The Mission

NIHS' mission is to discover, develop and deploy solutions that protect and preserve the critical infrastructure of the nation's communities.

The Institute

NIHS aligns projects and research objectives with the needs and requirements of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The strategy is to manage a distributed research enterprise that effectively transitions research and development into solutions. NIHS works with DHS to determine technology needs at the community level. Then, teams are quickly assembled from multiple universities to develop solutions to the needs.

The Strategy

Through management of the Kentucky Critical Infrastructure Protections Program (KCI), the National Institute for Hometown Security (NIHS) provides an ongoing, integrated program dedicated to developing new technologies and devices. NIHS works through qualified academic institutions to accomplish the technological objectives.