Workforce development includes efforts to grow and improve the pool of science, engineering, and technology workforce to meet local, state and federal homeland security personnel requirements through enhanced and expanded methods of awareness, recruitment, education, training, information exchange, research, hands-on experience, field exercises, collaborations and specialized partnerships. SERRI has funded the following workforce development projects:

1. Education and Workforce Development Initiative (Jackson State University - Edward Collins) -in progress

The nation needs to improve its ability to rapidly deploy homeland security relevant science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) knowledge to a wide range of stakeholders, from the leadership of national, state and local organizations to first and early responders, to the general citizenry and to the future workforce. This project will develop a hub and spoke model for Workforce Development among the colleges and universities in the DHS University Centers of Excellence (COE). COE universities would function as the ‘hubs’ of the homeland security related STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) distribution network. This project will also produce an architecture and prototype for the rapid deployment of technology within the national K-12 thorough Post Graduate Education System infrastructure, and an architecture and prototype for implementation of the enabling technology at the Homeland Security Operational Unit level.

Community and Regional Resilience Initiative Overview

Southeast Region Research Initiative: Workforce Development