Administrator Pekoske and other TSA leaders met with innovation partners to explore ways TSA can make the most of commercial technology to get advanced solutions in the hands of employees faster.
TSA’s collaboration with Silicon Valley and federal partners aligns with the first strategic priority in the Administrator’s Intent 3.0 to “improve security and safeguard the transportation systems by being agile, innovative, rapidly deploying new solutions, and maximizing the impact of our resources.”
As an agile agency, TSA must efficiently and rapidly apply innovative processes and technology to outmatch complex and evolving threats to the nation’s transportation systems.
“Listening to the work we do with our tech partners and seeing the teams at these airports was so energizing. Looking forward to accomplishing more in the years to come!” said Administrator Pekoske via Twitter/X.
For much of the trip, the Administrator was accompanied by a who’s who of TSA leaders – Chief Innovation Officer Steven Parker; Deputy Chief Innovation Officer Andy Haskins; Enterprise Support Deputy Executive Assistant Administrator Kim Hutchinson; Chief Information Officer Yemi Oshinnaiye; Counselor to the Administrator Faiza Khan; Requirements, Capabilities and Analysis (RCA) Senior Technical Advisor Charlie Hall; RCA Identity Management Manager Jason Lim and RCA Innovation Task Force Acting Director Anca Alexandrescu.
The team embarked on a series of visits with commercial and federal partners to discuss new technologies and how innovation, creativity and agility impact mission success.
The team visited Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Apple, Google, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), In-Q-Tel (IQT) and met with Stanford University Professor Dr. Hayagreeva “Huggy” Rao, an expert in innovation and organizational behavior. Pekoske also engaged with TSA employees at California’s Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Oakland International Airport (OAK), and San José Mineta International Airport (SJU).
Center for Homeland Security Defense and Security
Pekoske participated in a fireside chat on building a culture of innovation at the Center for Homeland Security Defense and Security – Alumni Professional Exchange event at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. LE/FAMS Executive Director Serge Potopov moderated the event.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Pekoske visited the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a federally-funded science and technology research and development center in Livermore, California, to discuss the lab’s capabilities and potential areas for collaboration.
Google, Apple
The Administrator engaged with Google and Apple executives to address states adopting the use of state-issued digital IDs and their acceptance at the security checkpoint during the identity verification process. TSA is working with the tech giants so passengers can identify themselves with IDs stored on their phones at airports.
Defense Innovation Unit
Then it was off to Mountain View, California, where Pekoske met with DIU Director Doug Beck and Deputy Director Kirstin Riesbeck. The meeting focused on DIU’s capabilities for fielding and scaling commercial technology as well as areas for potential collaboration with TSA.
DIU is the only Department of Defense (DoD) organization focused exclusively on sourcing and evaluating emerging technologies that address critical gaps and scaling commercial solutions to deliver strategic impact at speed across the U.S. military. The Administrator added his signature to the DIU Innovation Wall, which also features the signatures of defense secretaries Ash Carter, Jim Mattis and Lloyd Austin.
“DIU is excited to share lessons learned, successes and opportunities accelerating commercial technology into DoD with our partners across the U.S. government,” said Beck. “Together, we can deliver strategic impact for the…
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