Hacking for Homeland Security (H4HS) is a mission-driven entrepreneurship program sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that engages academia to tackle pressing homeland security challenges through project-based courses. The program harnesses university energy, talent, and creativity, bringing students together with DHS professionals, technical experts, and business leaders to develop innovative solutions for critical homeland security problems at startup speed.
The H4HS program is administered by DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) in an educational partnership with the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC), the innovation company BMNT, its nonprofit partner, the Common Mission Project (CMP), and conducted in collaboration with DHS components, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The H4HS innovation platform supports real-world DHS component problems and opportunities with rapid development of solutions that can be deployed at speed.
The Hacking for Homeland Security Program, launched by DHS in 2020, is modeled after the Hacking for Defense® (H4D) program, a national academic course founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs and national security practitioners and taught in over 50 leading universities across the United States, applying its experiential problem-solving approach to defense, energy, and diplomacy challenges.
Problem Sourcing:
Learn about the program through one of our H4HS seminars or by reaching out to us directly and submitting a problem through this link. Those who submit problems are then considered Problem Sponsors.
ProblemScoping:
After submitting your DHS problem, an H4HS analyst will reach out to you to dig deeper into your problem. You and your analyst will then work together to scope your problem to both accurately capture your problem and be clear enough for a student team to understand.
Problem Submission Deadline for Fall 2022:
July 12, 2022
Our Hacking for Homeland Security program team takes the finalized problems and matches them to the best-equipped university. Once the university has the problems, students self-select which problem to work on in order to ensure enthusiasm toward solving it.
Problem Selection Deadline for Fall 2022:
July 12, 2022
Student teams will begin conducting interviews in a process called “beneficiary discovery” to learn every aspect of the problem and see every possible solution pathway. From there, students apply the Lean Startup methodology (or similar methodologies) and begin testing their hypotheses.
Fall 2022 Semester Dates: August 24 - December 2022
Members of the DHS that participate in H4HS will receive a fully explored solution pathway, ensuring you are applying your available resources to the most viable, feasible, and desirable solution. This will be presented by the student team at the end of the semester.
Fall 2022 Tentative Date: Dec 12, 2022
Upon class completion, DHS problem sponsors and student teams have multiple opportunities available to them to build upon the solution pathway presented.
→ DHS identifies internal champion, program, or division to implement the solution in the agency
→ Student team forms a company and continues developing the solution and potential clients
→ Student team receives funding to continue with their venture and create a prototype out of their solution recommendation
→ Student team gets offered a position at DHS to continue working the problem and support the agency
