How DHS is trying to diversify its industrial base and protect the supply chain

The Homeland Security Department has a broad mission that includes border security, disaster response, critical infrastructure protection and transportation security to name a few.

To deliver on that mission, DHS procurement officials described a variety of initiatives while speaking at our Power Breakfast Oct. 18 on doing business with the department.

Of special note are strategic sourcing initiatives, efforts to draw new entrants into DHS and how the department is leveraging artificial intelligence to protect the supply chain.

Part of Darlene Bullock’s responsibility as executive director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is to attract those companies to DHS. Her office has several tools to do that.

“My mission is to make sure that small businesses have opportunities at Homeland,” Bullock said. “We want small businesses to be part of the strategic sourcing family and part of the family of contractors at DHS.”

Bullock is a proponent of the Small Business Innovative Research program, which is run by the Small Business Administration.

“We want to get new companies to do business with you and SBIR is a way to do that,” Bullock said.

They are also trying to attract businesses that are working in other parts of the federal government, but not at DHS. Defense contractors are a prime target audience.

“I like to go to DOD events and try to steal their people because I see a direct correlation between what the Department of Defense does and what contractors can do here at Homeland Security,” Bullock said.

Jaclyn Rubino, executive director of the DHS strategic programs division, said her office also plays a role in attracting new entrants to the department. One initiative is to change some contract requirements.

“We are trying to navigate a shift from requiring extreme DHS experience as a mandate to get onto some of our vehicles,” Rubino said.

Contractors familiar with DHS are valuable because they can jump right in and support the mission but making that a requirement can be a big barrier to new companies, Rubino added.

“We’ve been looking at structuring some of the past performance requirements and the corporate experience requirements to be more friendly to companies that have experience in the commercial sector or other agencies that can apply to DHS,” Rubino said.

She called it a culture change for DHS.

“We’re not there, but we are getting there,” Rubino said.

Both Rubino and Bullock said that companies trying to crack the DHS market should focus on what they do best and not try to sell themselves as being able to do everything.

“Please don’t tell me you can run a data center and sell me hard shoes or train dogs,” Bullock said.

That’s an easy way to discredit yourself.

“It’s not that we want to limit you and your ambitions, but you have to be honest about what it that you can do,” Bullock said.

One new initiative Rubino is focused on relates to generative AI in the DHS supply chain.

Right now, DHS program officials and contracting officers don’t have a good way to assess supply chain risk.

“I'm building a supply chain risk management practice at the department that's looking at how do we position ourselves to pay attention to supply chain risks tied to the goods and services that we're procuring in support of our missions,” Rubino said.

Rubino is doing this with no real budget and limited people.

“We’ve worked to develop an AI that can be applied to DHS procurements,” Rubino said. “We’ve tested it and hopefully we’ll go at a broader scale this year where we can train people to ask alerting questions and then validate that information with industry.”

The AI gives a starting point for asking questions and being more proactive, rather than reacting as situations arise, Rubino said.