UNO NCITE Annual Report | 2020–2021

UNIVERSIT Y OF NEBRASK A AT OMAHA

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

ANNUAL REPORT 2020––2021

NCITE Year 1 Award DHS OUP Grant: # 20STTPC00001-01 Period of Performance: July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021 This report outlines the achievements of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, in accordance with the Grant Award #20STTPC00001-01 for budget Year 1 and calendar dates July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.

CENTER DIRECTOR Gina Ligon University of Nebraska at Omaha

DHS CONTACTS Dana Saft Office of University Programs Science & Technology Directorate Hilary Shackelford Support Contractor Science & Technology Directorate U.S. Department of Homeland Security The research and activities described in this report were supported by the Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Office of University Programs.

The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies either expressed or implied of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

For more information, contact the NCITE Center at [ NCI T E.UNOM AH A .EDU ] OR NCITE@UNOMAHA.EDU

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NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

NCITE THEME 2

NCITE THEME 4

4 LET TER FROM THE DIREC TOR GINA LIGON

19 OVERVIEW AND I MPAC T

31 OVERVIEW AND I MPAC T

20 STORY BY NATHAN DUFOUR

32 STORY BY VIGNESH MURUGAVEL

22 PROJEC T SNAPSHOTS

34 PROJEC T SNAPSHOTS

22

TOM HOLT

34

22

MARIO SCALOR A

5

NCITE OVERVIEW

6

ABOUT NCITE

NCITE THEME 1 13 OVERVIEW AND I MPAC T

MICHELLE BL ACK

EDUCATION PROJECTS NCITE THEME 3

36 OVERVIEW AND I MPAC T

25 OVERVIEW AND I MPAC T

38 STORY BY ERIN GR ACE

14 STORY BY CL AR A BR AUN 16 PROJEC T SNAPSHOTS 16

SAM HUNTER

26 STORY BY ERIN GR ACE AND

L AUREN ZIMMERMAN

40 STUDENTS SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES

16

SHIR A Z MAHER

28 PROJEC T SNAPSHOTS

42 PROJEC T SNAPSHOTS

16

VIC TOR ASAL

28

JOEL ELSON

42

DOUG DERRICK

29

PETE SIMI & K ARYN SPORER

42

ADAN VEL A

17 LORENZO VIDINO 17

A ARON ELKINS

42

ERIC FROST

17

MAT THEW JENSEN

43

ERIN BASS

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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DEAR NCITE, In 2020, we launched a startup in a shutdown.

We found out DHS selected the University of Nebraska at Omaha to lead its Center of Excellence for Terrorism Prevention and Counterterrorism Research on February 21, 2020. Of course, we all know what transpired across the globe in the ensuing days: Our university and the 17 partner universities we were to sponsor through our international consortium shut their doors and moved their ivory towers to the confines of a Zoom screen. Our government partners also moved home as the pandemic made working together too risky for public safety. We feared for our loved ones, ourselves, and our kids as we adjusted to what seemed like weekly changes in guidance and shocks to the social fabric of our communities.

In our inaugural year, we lived through a shared crisis of COVID-19.

IN THE FACE OF TREMENDOUS UNCERTAINTY, I TURNED TO THE HOPEFUL FUTURE OF THIS CENTER WE WERE ENTRUSTED TO BUILD. GINA LIGON NCITE CENTER DIRECTOR

In the face of tremendous uncertainty, I turned to the hopeful future of this center we were entrusted to build. We hired new staff, we consulted with contractors on a new building, and we posted the largest ever cluster hire in our university’s history. We held a kickoff and ribbon cutting virtually, and I prayed my dogs wouldn’t bark, nor my internet drop as I unsteadily navigated the Microsoft Teams platform for the first time from my cramped home office wearing my dress shirt and sweatpants.

With our startup, we also learned new skills. We learned how to mentor students on a computer screen, how to adjust our workplans to online data collection, and how to unmute ourselves in large meetings with DHS components. We learned how to administer over $1.5M in subawards to researchers from London to San Diego, and we learned how to persuade the best counterterrorism researchers in the country to move their families and labs to Omaha.

We also bore witness to the most social unrest that many of us had ever experienced in our lifetimes in the United States. Our research topics came to life as we tried to make sense of the polarization and open hate that had finally bubbled over for all of us to see in the summer of 2020. Then, in January 2021, a heinous attack on the U.S. Capitol transpired before us in real-time on national news and social media. In the crowd of thousands, we saw emblems of extremist groups and state flags intermixed on the outskirts of the protest. Inside the building, we saw fear, anger, and hate on the faces of those who breached the doors and committed an attack on our democracy and the symbols of it.

While the first National Strategy on Domestic Terrorism was released six months later, the persistent threats from international adversaries abroad highlighted the importance of our center’s mission: to apply apolitical study to all ideologically driven threats to the United States.

What I hope you will find in our inaugural annual report is a snapshot of the work that was done toward these goals across four thematic areas tailored to counterterrorism and terrorism prevention in the United States. I am eager for you to see how we have developed the 400+ students in our consortium and how we continue to put interdisciplinary innovation and user inspiration at the forefront of our collaborations.

Thank you for starting up with NCITE while the world shut down around us. I invite you to read about our first year and to share our hope that the next will be even better!

Gina Ligon NCITE Center Director

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NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

NCITE OVERVIEW The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center’s goal is to provide the national security frontline with tools that will help workers counter and prevent terrorism and targeted violence. These tools will take the form of both knowledge products and technology. Applied research is organized around four scientific research themes:

1

COUNTERING terrorism and targeted violence by improving operations

2

BOLSTERING the National Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative

3 4

PREVENTING terrorism and targeted violence

NCITE completed its first research year on June 30, 2021, capping a historic year that included a global pandemic, a fraught national presidential campaign, an attack on the U.S. Capitol, and other civil unrest and ongoing rancor. It was also a year in which the White House, for the first time, unveiled a domestic terrorism policy and argued strongly for the need to combat threats to the homeland from within the homeland while also beefing up prevention.

Within its first year of operation, NCITE has engaged numerous U.S. government stakeholders and community groups to combat terrorism and has established its commitment to novel research methods, technology solutions, and education programs – developments central to its name, mission, and impact.

STRENGTHENING the current workforce and building the workforce of the future

N ATIONAL C OUNTERTERRORISM I NNOVATION T ECHNOLOGY E DUCATION

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US stakeholder groups across DHS, DoD, DoJ, and local communities engaged with NCITE to offer insights for improving national security

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Research themes devoted to understanding, reporting, preventing, and building capacity to counter terrorism

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Unique data collection, study design, and analysis methods applied to innovative research on counterterrorism

4

Technology solutions and products in development for supporting DHS capacity for countering terrorism

463

Graduate and undergraduate students funded, taught, and advised through NCITE education and research

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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ABOUT NCITE

BY VIRGINA GALLNER

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NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

NCITE’S VALUES NCITE’s vision is to be the premier U.S. academic provider of counterterrorism research, technology, and workforce development. NCITE’s mission is to produce actionable research through a user-inspired approach, which combines social science, business, and technology for the security of the homeland.

1 INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION 2 GROWTH MINDSET 3 STAKEHOLDER FOCUS 4 STUDENT DEVELOPMENT 5 EXCELLENCE WITH INTEGRITY 6 GROUNDING IN DATA AND SCIENCE

During its first year, NCITE has selected and onboarded staff, recruited and hired researchers, developed a strategic communications plan, and established a governance framework. The center produced events to engage the wider community, including ENVISION21, NCITE’s first annual meeting. The center awarded 16 grants to partners

across the U.S. and U.K. NCITE is also growing its research portfolio. In its second year, NCITE researchers are winning grants outside the cooperative agreement to achieve more prevention and evaluation goals for DHS. The center is busy, active, and planning — at publication — to ready its Request for Proposals for Year Three!

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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MORE ABOUT NCITE NCITE seeks to establish itself as the go-to research hub for counterterrorism and targeted violence studies, terrorism prevention, and workforce development expertise. NCITE is composed of over 50 researchers from 18 universities in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Together, these institutions are exposing more than 400 students to the DHS mission and counterterrorism and targeted violence prevention issues.

The NCITE Center was established with a 10-year, $36.5 million grant from DHS. The grant was awarded in February 2020. UNO won the award in part because of its plans to focus research on knowledge and technology for the Homeland Security Enterprise, (HSE). NCITE’s pledge at the beginning was to not only assist with research and workforce development but also collaborate with and respond to DHS components and industry representatives.

The NCITE Center sits in the center of the nation: Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha is home to steak, the College World Series, and Warren Buffett. It is also a national security hub with USSTRATCOM at Offutt Air Force Base in nearby Bellevue; the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which is home to the nation’s only federal quarantine unit and a six-bed National Biocontainment Training Center; and the National Strategic Research Institute, one of just 14 university-affiliated research centers in the U.S. NCITE resides in the sleek new Rod Rhoden Business Innovation Center at the UNO College of Business Administration. This building stands on the Scott Campus, named for the late philanthropist Walter Scott Jr.

ABOUT THE TEAM

NCITE is led by Gina Ligon, who has a distinguished career as a researcher and educator. She is an industrial-organizational psychologist with proven terrorism expertise and serves as the point of contact for all critical center functions.

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Business Operations Director Lindsay Odvody holds a law degree and has worked in human relations at First National Bank and in Washington, D.C., serving on the staffs of two former U.S. senators. A master of organization, Odvody makes NCITE wheels turn.

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

Strategic Communications Manager Erin Grace is a former columnist who spent 22 years at Nebraska’s flagship newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald. Before that, she was a high school English teacher with Teach for America. Grace believes in the power of storytelling, especially NCITE stories.

A BOU T T H E T E AM C ON T.

Director of Education and Workforce Development Michelle Black is an assistant professor of political science with previous experience working for the U.S. military in capacities of service (U.S. Army, psychological operations) and civilian help (USSTRATCOM, specializing in deterrence analysis and adversary decision-making).

Director of Innovation and Transition Doug Derrick played a founding role in the creation of NCITE and led IT Innovation projects during its inaugural year. He since has taken a new position outside of NCITE as associate dean of research for UNO’s College of Information Science & Technology, but he remains involved as principal investigator of one of NCITE’s important education projects.

Courtney Sklenar is serving as Education Programs and Events Manager. She is accountable for leading and managing all education and development programming at NCITE, including programs related to internships, traveling scholars/ researchers, curriculum development and implementation coordination.

Beth Stinebrink is the new DHS Engagements manager. She will be accountable for leading and managing all tasks, relationships, and accountabilities derived from engagements issued to NCITE directly from DHS, with a focus on Basic Ordering Agreement task orders.

During its first year of operations, NCITE identified additional resource needs in order to effectively administer the DHS award. The new positions, which have been designed and approved by UNO and DHS, were filled in the first quarter of Year 2.

Brandy Gerry, new office associate, manages administrative deliverables, including the NCITE scheduling, travel, and reimbursement coordination.

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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A BOU T T H E T E AM C ON T.

Kat Parsons started working as an NCITE research associate in October 2021. She previously was a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Affairs and an adjunct instructor at American University, as well as an adjunct instructor at Marymount University. She has taught Criminology, Research Methods, and Transnational Terrorism. Her focus has been on the variation between support for political extremism, violence, and engagement in violence. Her previous research includes support for political violence and the impact of violent rhetoric, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as the rise of farright terrorism in the U.S. and Europe.

Kayla Walters is an industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologist whose research focuses on two areas: 1) how different combinations of leadership styles shape outcomes for individuals and organizations, and 2) how creativity can be used for malevolent ends. As a Research Associate at NCITE, she applies her understanding of I-O psychology – and specifically leadership and creativity – to the study of violent extremist organizations. She also reviews projects and deliverables from NCITE research partners and helps identify ways to maximize their impact for DHS stakeholders.

NCITE has also brought aboard eight UNO-based counterterrorism researchers. These researchers hold expertise across five academic disciplines, reflecting NCITE’s commitment to interdisciplinary study. The eight consist of: a political scientist, an IT innovator, two criminologists, a management expert on insider threats, and three industrial-organizational psychologists.

Both an external board of directors composed of 18 DHS officials and an internal advisory board of seven University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) leaders provide oversight.

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NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

Tin Nguyen is an industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologist whose research examines social and environmental factors that enable individuals and collectives to innovate for benevolent or harmful ends. In his role as an NCITE research associate, he reviews NCITE’s project portfolio and offers ideas for maximizing project impact for Department of Homeland Security stakeholders.

Joel S. Elson is an assistant professor of IT Innovation. He has a doctorate in Information Technology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His research interests include humancomputer trust, computer-mediated influence, and psychophysiological measurement.

Matt Allen is an assistant professor of management. He has over 15 years of experience as an industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology consultant, professor, and manager specializing in applied research and implementation of evidenced-based solutions to meet client needs. Prior to his current role, Allen served as manager of HumRRO’s Talent Assessment and Analystics Program and as the manager of a strategic human relations function in the Department of Defense.

Sam Hunter is a professor of industrial and organizational psychology. His work centers on leadership and innovation management. He received his Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology from the University of Oklahoma. Hunter also serves in a leadership role at NCITE, where he helps coordinate and manage the various activities of the center.

Erin Kearns’ primary research seeks to understand the relationships among terrorism, media, law enforcement, and the public. Her publications include articles on why groups lie about terrorism, media coverage of terrorism and counterterrorism, public perceptions of terrorism and counterterrorism practices, and relationships between communities and law enforcement.

Austin C. Doctor is an assistant professor of political science and member of the executive committee of the NCITE Center.

Doctor earned a Ph.D. in political science and international affairs from the University of Georgia. He studies militant actors, terrorism, political violence, and armed conflict with a regional focus on Africa.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Virginia Gallner is a graduate research assistant working on her Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Policy. Her research interests are in domestic extremism, social media as a tool for spreading misinformation, and hate crime policies.

NCITE students come from a range of disciplines: criminology, psychology, IT innovation, public administration, business, political science, neuroscience, and information systems.

NCITE also funds students in a variety of capacities.

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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NCI T E T HEME 1:

NATURE OF COUNTERTERRORISM AND TARGETED VIOLENCE OPERATIONS

OVERVIEW

NCITE’s Theme 1 explores the nature of countering terrorism from two perspectives: 1) understanding tactics, ideologies, and connections of terrorist groups, and 2) equipping DHS counterterrorism professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to anticipate evolving threats. In Year 1, researchers from seven of our partner institutions tackled projects aimed at developing innovative analytic capabilities and technology-enabled products to help Homeland Security stakeholders counter terrorism and targeted violence.

Areas of focus included: • Terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures to prevent cyber and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities • Cyber technology operations such as virtual currencies, Internet of Things targeting, thwarting communication, and malware identification • Data solutions to augment counterterrorism applications

KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Malevolent innovation is a process that individuals and groups use to iterate on attack target selection and method. As they innovate, groups learn from one another and share materials readily across ideologies and continents.

• By understanding the nature of connections within and across domestic terrorist groups, we can begin to predict more likely targets using a mixed method of machine learning and qualitative case analysis.

• Fusion Centers do not always have access to information about trends in social media that might foreshadow violent attacks in their area of responsibilities.

• ISIS-inspired individuals and white nationalists share a common enemy that is frequently used to increase cohesion in their respective groups: anti-Semitic ideologies are a common feature of both foreign-inspired and domestic violent extremists.

• Data visualization innovations in all these findings can help translate this research to practice for the Homeland Security Enterprise.

IMPACT 8

40+

5

7

peer-reviewed publications

roundtables, workshops, and presentations

NCITE-hosted seminars

projects

80+

19

40+

news reports

investigators

non-peer-reviewed reports and op-eds

45 student researchers

16,000+ page reviews on the mapping militants project

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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THEME 1 STORY

IN A LONG CAREER OF TERRORISM RESEARCH

MARTHA CRENSHAW DISCUSSES WHAT’S NEXT

BY CL AR A BR AUN Forty years ago, when Martha Crenshaw entered what was a thennew field of terrorism studies, Palestinian militants were the big threat. Today, the biggest terrorism risk to the U.S. are Americans who seek to harm their own countrymen.

In a time complicated by a global pandemic, civil unrest, and terrorist activity that seems to be right outside our front door, there is growing unease. However, Crenshaw is hopeful for the future.

Crenshaw’s career has influenced generations of terrorism scholars.

Her seminal texts — International Encyclopedia of Terrorism (1998), Trajectories of Terrorism (2009), and Terrorism in Context (1995), to name a few — have served as holy grails for increasing the understanding of terrorism worldwide.

MARTHA CRENSHAW, A TERRORISM RESEARCHER WITH OVER 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, IS HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTURE. Since publishing her first article, “The Concept of Revolutionary Terrorism,” in 1972, Crenshaw has served on countless committees, including the Executive Board of Women in International Security. She is a former president and served on the council of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), and editorial boards for the journals Terrorism and Political Violence, International Security, Political Psychology, Security Studies, Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, and Orbis.

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She is a research affiliate for the NCITE Center, specifically in Theme 1: Understanding and Improving Counterterrorism and Targeted Violence Operations. The theme encompasses projects devoted to understanding the nature of relationships among extremist organizations.

Crenshaw’s NCITE work with Stanford University, the Mapping Militants Project, has involved mapping extremist groups across the globe to demonstrate changing relationships over time, both within and across domestic extremist organizations.

While Crenshaw’s work has been globally renowned, she, like many other subject matter experts, has used her expertise to examine the events of Jan. 6th and has expanded the Mapping Militants Project to include several groups with members who participated that day, such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.

In February, a little more than a month after the breach, Crenshaw wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times in which she detailed the future landscape of terrorism in the homeland. She stated that the turnout we saw at the U.S. Capitol is unlikely to ever occur again. When asked about the New York Times article, citing the recent data breaches that have revealed some participants to be members of law enforcement and the military, and how publicity from the breach might act as a deterrent for future participants in similar events, Crenshaw said while there is likely a core group who will become even more resolute in their beliefs, “people with more shallow or opportunistic motivations are likely to drop out, because of fear or disillusionment.” She added that it’s well known that Oath Keepers recruit from among military and police, so exposing

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

that relationship may be helpful in cutting these links. The Oath Keepers are a far-right militant organization devoted to protecting U.S. citizens from what they perceive to be violations of natural rights by the government, often by violence. Participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach has had consequences: Over 600 people have been federally charged, and numerous individuals have been fired from their jobs. Participants in the breach who had law enforcement connections served to increase distrust of police.

What about vaccine mandates? Could those cause civil unrest or violence? Despite opposition rampant on social media, Crenshaw says that, yes, the issues of the pandemic and vaccine

our new normal and recover from the desecration on the symbol of our country’s democracy earlier this year. Crenshaw is hopeful threat detection and mitigation will continue to improve and highprofile opposition to vaccine and mask mandates will further diminish. Her work through Stanford University and affiliation with the NCITE Center have served to further knowledge about the extremism landscape in the U.S. When asked about her multidecade career of trailblazing and genius, Dr. Crenshaw said the most rewarding aspect of her career was her students.

Crenshaw continues to work with students, fostering the next generation of terrorism researchers.

CRENSHAW WROTE AN OPINION PIECE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES IN WHICH SHE DETAILED THE FUTURE LANDSCAPE OF TERRORISM IN THE HOMELAND. mandates are politicized and polarizing. However, “vaccine conspiracy theories and irrational opposition to vaccination will fade with time.”

Several of the same ideologies that propelled individuals to participate in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill breach have also inspired lone attackers and online influencers to continue spreading violent extremist rhetoric. When asked about the global influence of lone attackers, Crenshaw emphasized the infamy of manifestos and the effect of social media.

WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE GLOBAL INFLUENCE OF LONE ATTACKERS, CRENSHAW EMPHASIZED THE INFAMY OF MANIFESTOS AND THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA. “These individuals are social influencers of a terribly malign and destructive sort,” she said. “If we assume that such influencers aim for notoriety, then the practice of refusing to name them might help. It certainly can’t hurt, but there is no way now to restrict the dissemination of their messages via unregulated media.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Clara Braun is a doctoral student at UNO’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service.

She is a founding member of NCITE and serves as research graduate assistant for Theme 1: Understanding and Improving Counterterrorism and Targeted Violence Operations.

Despite the challenges ahead, Crenshaw holds optimism for the future, particularly as we continue to embrace the pandemic as

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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THEME 1 PROJECT SNAPSHOTS PENN STATE

UNDERSTANDING MALEVOLENT CREATIVITY IN TERRORIST ATTACKS PROJECT LEAD:

SAM HUNTER Develop interventions and trainings to better prepare practitioners to counter malevolently creative acts.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Completed a literature review on key concepts – design fixation and malevolent creativity • Provided final report detailing findings from a series of experimental studies • Two accepted peer-reviewed journal papers

YEAR 2 METHOD • Finalize analyses and experiments to test interventions to induce fixation/limit malevolent creativity • Develop and implement training aimed at improving creative thinking and problem-solving capabilities of DHS personnel

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KING’S COLLEGE

SUNY-ALBANY

PROJECT LEAD:

PROJECT LEAD:

SHIRAZ MAHER

VICTOR ASAL SUZANNE WEEDON LEVY

UNDERSTANDING TRANSNATIONAL TACTICAL INNOVATION AND DIFFUSION Explore innovative methods used by violent extremist organizations in recruiting and/or fundraising efforts.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Hosted NCITE & Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) collaborative workshops • Conducted literature review on terrorist innovation, reciprocal radicalization, and operational reciprocity • Designed and populated Phase 1 of ideological/tactical overlap dataset

YEAR 2 METHOD • Use quantitative content analysis, qualitative discourse analysis, and social network analysis to analyze information repositories and track the development/ diffusion of new tactics over time

ANTICIPATED IMPACT

ANTICIPATED IMPACT

• Improve the ability of DHS to anticipate, detect, and counter novel tactics used by terrorist groups and other malicious actors

• Support DHS detection/prevention efforts • Better understand tactical connections among different types of extremists • Provide insights into how social media influences diffusion of tactics

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

DO HATE GROUPS RESPOND TO GOVERNMENT CARROT OR STICK?

This project examines how 100 hate groups act – and react – especially given U.S. government interventions.

QUESTION How do government counterterrorism practices de-escalate or escalate violence committed by extremist groups?

PURPOSE Produce a statistical analysis to assist DHS in developing strategies to confront hate groups in the U.S.

STAKEHOLDERS DHS, S&T, DHS Office of Counterterrorism, and threat prevention They are analyzing how government interventions shape each group’s behavior.

The goal is to find out what government actions are best able to de-escalate violence and cease violence in violentleaning groups. “Extremism and terrorism in America today is a growing problem and one we believe that our research can help address,” Asal said. “Trying to understand why organizations turn to violence and why they use it has always been important to me and drives me to continue to investigate and answer this question.”

GWU

WHO ARE TODAY’S TERRORISTS? PROJECT LEAD:

LORENZO VIDINO Develop risk and threat assessment tool for counterterrorism and terrorism prevention practitioners.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Delivered monthly ISIS in America and legal proceedings tracker reports • Conducted and reported four in-depth analyses of: ISIS financing in America, the antisemitic roots of violent extremism, racially/ethnically motivated extremism (RMVE), and American leadership in jihadi groups • Cohosted with NCITE events on research streams and key DHS officials

YEAR 2 METHOD • Empirical case analysis of terrorist incidents in America, primarily taken from court records

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Provide DHS with continuous domestic threat awareness and guidance regarding appropriate threat mitigation responses

SDSU

HOW TO “SEE” THREATS PROJECT LEAD:

AARON ELKINS Develop artificial intelligence (AI) / augmented reality (AR) technology to integrate real-time information, task, and decision support into the workflow of DHS’ workforce.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Documented existing DHS operational processes • Developed an AR with AI system proofof-concept

YEAR 2 METHOD • Field investigations, literature reviews, focus group demonstrations, and workshops • Software development for user interface and system architecture

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Familiarize students with homeland security operations and establish a pipeline of students joining DHS • Increase efficiency and effectiveness of intelligence analysis and information sharing among DHS components

OU

IDEOLOGICAL INFLUENCES AND RADICALIZATION IN ONLINE MICROBLOG PLATFORMS PROJECT LEAD:

MATTHEW JENSEN Examine how violent ideological groups use microblogs such as Twitter to identify and attract new adherents, coordinate behavior, and radicalize followers.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Developed a corpus of ideological group leaders’ online messaging strategies • Analyzed leaders’ emotional and rational appeals to their ideological group followers • Submitted one paper for peer-reviewed journal publication

YEAR 2 METHOD • Use text mining, network analysis, and structural topic modeling to understand online messaging features (topics, emotions, moral disengagement strategies, cross-platform consistency) that precede and follow incidents of violence toward immigrants within the U.S. and enacted by domestic hate groups • Conduct experiments to determine whether identity- and issue-based social media content, along with message amplification strategies, influence messaging credibility, buy-in, and sharing

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Equip DHS with knowledge about online human and machine messaging tactics used by violent ideological groups

ANNUAL REPORT 2020–2021

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NCITE THEME 2:

NATIONWIDE SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING INITIATIVE

OVERVIEW NCITE’s Theme 2 is dedicated to strengthening the nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative.

Researchers at two of our partner institutions are focused on improving SAR protocols and assessing the quantity and quality of SAR reporting. In Year 1, these researchers worked on projects to identify barriers that prevent community members from reporting suspicious activity and to develop mobilization indicators that can be used to predict cyberattack behaviors.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Behaviors leading up to ideologically motivated cyber attacks can be analyzed from public-facing records (e.g., court documents, bystander accounts).

• Community gatekeepers in a position to observe suspicious activities in school populations may lack trust in the process due to ambiguity about outcomes and how to report.

IMPACT 2

6

13

projects

investigators

student researchers

1 webinar

for CBP and local law enforcement

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THEME 2 STORY

KEEPING US SAFE IN CYBER, PHYSICAL REALMS

BY NAT HAN DUFOUR

From snail mail to email, instant communication and connection have become a foundational aspect of our society. The (October 4) outage of Facebook’s service served as a reminder of how much we have come to rely on the internet and the services that it offers to us. When Facebook disappeared for six hours, it was not just your family pictures that went missing. Internationally, entire communities are built around the Facebook-owned WhatsApp’s instant communication services. These schools, businesses, peer groups, and families were suddenly unable to operate or contact one another. Imagine if, without any warning, no one in the United States could make a phone call or text a family member.

These are the kinds of scenarios that keep cybersecurity experts awake at night. We have become reliant on electronic communication and services. Our entire infrastructure is built on the back of digital systems and needs to be protected from failures and attacks. It’s not just the big-picture problems that we have to be conscious of. We also have to think about how our own lives are affected by cybersecurity. We screen robocalls, watch out for spam emails, and create increasingly complex passwords to ensure our online presence remains safe. Dr. Thomas Holt, director of the

OUR ENTIRE INFRASTRUCTURE IS BUILT ON THE BACK OF DIGITAL SYSTEMS AND NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED FROM FAILURES AND ATTACKS .

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School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University, is NCITE’s resident expert in cybersecurity with research that examines different aspects of the field to help keep us safe from potential attacks on our digital persons and infrastructure. His research spans cybercrimes such as identity theft and cyberbullying all the way to cyberterrorism and dark web firearm vendors. Recently, Holt has been working with NCITE on a new project to improve reporting protocols for online violence. There are currently systems that allow citizens to send in tips when they witness online activity that is suspicious or outright illegal, disturbing, and threatening.

These processes are not always intuitive, practical, or efficient.

Holt’s work aims to improve the reporting processes used by federal agencies to be more efficient with their resources.

Parallel to this work, NCITE is proud to have Dr. Mario Scalora working on the physical aspects of security. Where Holt looked at cybersecurity and keeping the public safe from online threats, Scalora’s work focuses on keeping physical threats at bay, whether in our schools, stadiums, workplaces, or homes. His research also focuses on workplace violence and trying to find predictors of that violence. The scenarios that keep an expert like Scalora awake at night are different from the ones we just talked about.

A sad example of the kind of events that Scalora works to prevent is the attack and death of British PM David Amess. On October 15, Amess was attending a city meeting at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea when he was stabbed to death. A 25-yearold British man has been arrested and charged with the murder, which authorities are calling an act of terrorism. Amess was about to hold a voter meeting, fulfilling his normal function and had no reason to expect an attack while at work. In 2020, Scalora’s

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

DR. MARIO SCALORA

research looked at workplace homicides. His goal was to examine assessment tools used by companies to assess risk and to dive into their efficacy. In this review of existing tools Scalora provided individuals who use the tools guidance regarding their reliability, use, and future improvement.

DR . T HOM A S HOLT

DHS and other government agencies need to build trust with local communities and create ties to help improve the reporting process.

One of NCITE’s goals is to help prevent future attacks from taking place, and both Holt’s and Scalora’s projects are critical components of our plan to continue bolstering our communities.

While working with NCITE, Scalora has been undertaking a new project that aims to identify potential hurdles that would prevent individuals from providing vital information about potential upcoming threats to law enforcement. This project stems from the idea that no one operates in a vacuum. We know that perpetrators of big attacks have family members, friends, or neighbors who were concerned or puzzled about recent changes in behavior.

WHILE WORKING WITH NCITE, SCALORA HAS BEEN UNDERTAKING A NEW PROJECT THAT AIMS TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL HURDLES THAT WOULD PREVENT INDIVIDUALS FROM PROVIDING VITAL INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL UPCOMING THREATS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT. Often, the friends did not know who to call about this odd behavior. It does not feel severe enough to call 911, but who can people tell? The project aims to identify some of the hurdles that prevent friends, family, and neighbors from voicing their concerns to trained help and examining potential community responses.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nathan Dufour is a doctoral student in criminology and criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. A founding member of NCITE, he serves as a graduate research assistant for Theme 2: Improving Suspicious Activity Reporting.

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THEME 2 PROJECT SNAPSHOTS MICHIGAN STATE

UNL

PROJECT LEAD:

PROJECT LEAD:

TOM HOLT

MARIO SCALORA

Improve Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) protocols as they relate to online violence by examining the life histories of ideologically motivated cyberattackers.

Document the outcomes of Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) within Fusion Centers and identify thresholds for applying behavior threat assessments.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS

• Development of case analyses of the already existing Extremist Cybercrime Dataset (ECCD) and variable codebook, which includes 227 variables related to cyberattack suspects, targets, and SAR indicators (for FBI, NCTC, and DHS) • Coded all data for 122 known suspects of cyberattacks and 96 unknown suspects using handles, aliases, etc.

• Created a taxonomy of reporting barriers and facilitators based on feedback from community groups and the general public • Drafted a toolkit for local agencies to facilitate community engagement

IDENTIFYING IDEOLOGICALLY MOTIVATED CYBER ATTACKERS

YEAR 2 METHOD • Develop a unique dataset of cyberattackers’ social and life histories from publicly available online repositories • Analyze data using content analysis

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Enable DHS HSI, CISA, and related agencies to improve critical infrastructure protection practice, particularly around cybersecurity threats from terror and extremist entities

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FACILITATING COMMUNITY-LEVEL SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING

YEAR 2 METHOD • Document, code, and analyze Fusion Centers’ processing of SARs, threat assessment responses, and their SAR outcomes

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Increase awareness of the gatekeepers facilitating SAR reports, as well as documentation and data for the screening process • Improve Fusion Center categorization, analysis, integration, and decisions around SAR reports

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NCITE THEME 3:

TERRORISM & TARGETED VIOLENCE PREVENTION & PROGRAM EVALUATION

OVERVIEW NCITE’s Theme 3 is focused on supporting DHS in its terrorism prevention efforts, with the goal of improving threat detection and intervention programs. Our consortium’s capabilities in this area include terrorist prevention program evaluation, radicalization and mobilization processes across ideologies, successful and failed counter-messaging, and the role of imprisonment in recidivism and reintegration. In Year 1, researchers from three partner institutions undertook projects to assess barriers to family engagement with prevention efforts and to create a software tool to help predict extremist activity upon release from federal prison.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Federally incarcerated extremists represent a rare but high-consequence population that needs focus for prevention work.

• Family members should not be thought of as sources for SAR, but instead as key nodes of influence in prevention of mobilization from radicalized individuals.

IMPACT 7

2

investigators

projects

3

2

publications

congressional testimonies

4

1

student researchers

field demonstration (to Homeland Security stakeholders)

10+ invited talks (to faculty, students, and community audiences)

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THEME 3 STORY

BRINGING LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS

BY ERIN GR ACE AND L AUREN ZIMMERMAN

Pete Simi’s bright office inside Chapman University’s airy Roosevelt Hall in Orange, California, belies the dark subject matter of which he’s an expert. Shelves crammed with book titles like “The Racist Mind,” “American Terrorist,” and “Hitler Youth” show the sociologist’s career focus.

far-right organizations. For NCITE, he leads a prevention project that centers on how to create better resources for families of extremists to be able to better report suspicious activity by their loved ones. Simi is working on this with sociologist Karyn Sporer of the University of Maine.

Simi’s expertise has been tapped by news outlets across the U.S. in recent years as communities have tried to make sense of an unprecedented rise of racially and ethnically motivated violence, which is one of two most lethal elements of today’s domestic terrorism threat.

Terrorism and targeted violence prevention are arguably the hardest types of terrorism research. It is incredibly easy to tune

The Biden administration has named another: anti-government or anti-authority violent extremists, like violent militia extremists.

A seasoned researcher, Simi has embedded with white supremacy groups, including for his 2010 book, “American Swastika,”

A SEASONED RESEARCHER, SIMI HAS EMBEDDED WITH WHITE SUPREMACY GROUPS, INCLUDING FOR HIS 2010 BOOK, “AMERICAN SWASTIKA,” COAUTHORED WITH ROBERT FUTRELL. coauthored with Robert Futrell. He is active with groups like Life After Hate, a nonprofit that seeks to help people leave violent,

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TERRORISM AND TARGETED VIOLENCE PREVENTION ARE ARGUABLY THE HARDEST TYPES OF TERRORISM RESEARCH. out the human element of extremism and hope that these are all just “bad people.” But the reality is far from that. Theories about radicalization prove this as we’ve come to understand the multiple, interwoven reasons why someone might be interested in extremist ideas.

Take NCITE’s project on addressing a critical need in the federal court system. Led by UNO’s Dr. Joel Elson, the project aims to help the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts improve its supervision of federal parolees with extremist ties. Working with NCITE Director Gina Ligon (an I-O psychologist) and UNO criminologist Gaylene Armstrong, Elson, an assistant professor

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

of IT Innovation, is developing a tool to help supervisory officers support those exiting the federal prison system with their safe reintegration back into their communities. The researchers’ varied backgrounds show the thrust of NCITE’s interdisciplinary work.

Prevention isn’t just about how to stop people from reoffending. It

PREVENTION ISN’T JUST ABOUT HOW TO STOP PEOPLE FROM REOFFENDING. IT IS ALSO ABOUT HELPING DIVERT PEOPLE OFF THAT ROAD TO RADICALIZATION ONCE THEY HAVE GOTTEN ON IT.

What gives her hope is “people across the country doing research like NCITE.” People like Simi. Simi has dedicated his career to studying and understanding the ideological drivers of racially motivated violence in hopes of helping prevent it. He has testified in court cases about hate crimes, testified to congressional committees, and spoken to media outlets on the subject. While it’s wearying subject matter, he is not without hope. “Redemption is possible for everyone, even people engaged in the most disgusting, despicable acts,” he said. Reducing those acts, i.e., preventing them, requires the tricky, difficult work of extricating people from beliefs that would lead to violence.

is also about helping divert people off that road to radicalization once they have gotten on it. And if they are too far down that path, prevention work makes sure there are barriers in place to slow them down and helps others to flag the cases that get missed.

DHS has expanded its prevention funds, and NCITE has been applying for – and getting – additional grants to do work as varied as insider threat screening for law enforcement and repatriation of U.S. spouses and children connected to foreign fighters.

Some of the best prevention researchers are also inspiring the future workforce in this very endeavor.

In an undergraduate-level class at Chapman, Simi spent one session focused on anti-Asian hate. Meanwhile, a film crew from Japan working on a documentary on the subject captured a lively exchange among students trying to understand anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S., both recent (the Atlanta-area spa shootings in March) and for these young people, historic (the 1982 murder of a Chinese-born American man in Michigan).

“How many people have heard of Vincent Chin?” Simi asked, referring to the victim. Just two hands went up in a classroom of 23. “That’s part of the problem, right? We don’t learn about this kind of violence.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lauren Zimmerman is a doctoral student in Information Technology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Information Science & Technology. Zimmerman is the graduate research assistant for Theme 3: Terrorism and Targeted Violence Prevention and Program Evaluation.

That is changing. Marisa Quezada, a Chapman student helping Simi content code a white supremacy recruitment video, said the material she’s studying is scary – but she’s not afraid to study it.

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THEME 3 PROJECT SNAPSHOTS UNO

DEVELOPING TOOLS FOR RISK ASSESSMENT OF INCARCERATED EXTREMISTS PROJECT LEAD:

JOEL ELSON Determine the technology needs of corrections officials tasked with monitoring the recidivism risks of extremists upon release and develop technology tools to support their work.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Identified needs of corrections officers: 1. Support for understanding and assessing recidivism 2. Lack of notification and awareness of release at state and local levels 3. Lack of decision support for local supervisory officials • Low-Fidelity Prototype and Data Flow Diagrams foundational to Prototype System

YEAR 2 METHOD • Interviews, focus groups, and surveys of key stakeholders to identify technology needs and adoption criteria

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Deliver instruments for monitoring, analyzing, and detecting recidivism of violent extremists released from prison • Provide supervisory officers with uniform access to subject matter experts and capacity to collaborate across agencies and prevention networks

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NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

CHAPMAN-MAINE

FACILITATING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL PROJECT LEADS:

PETE SIMI KARYN SPORER Identify and offer solutions to technological, social, and financial barriers that family members face in recognizing, responding to, and reporting radicalization.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Conducted a needs assessment with SARs partners, shared with 78 Fusion Centers • Analyzed archive of life-history interviews with former white supremacists about family member responses to their radicalization • Piloted four interviews with family members of white supremacist and Salafi jihadist extremists

YEAR 2 METHOD • In-depth life-history interviews with family members of suspected or convicted white supremacist and Salafi jihadist extremists

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Educate family members to recognize signs of extremism and terrorism and empower them to use local resources to intervene in the radicalization process

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NCITE THEME 4:

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

OVERVIEW KEY TAKEAWAYS:

NCITE’s Theme 4 is focused on building the current and future Homeland Security workforce by transforming workforce development for counterterrorism analysts. Our goals are to 1) benchmark, evaluate, and improve intelligence analyst development programs, and 2) create strategic public-private partnerships for intelligence community (IC) career development. Whereas the NCITE education projects are focused on developing a pipeline for future Homeland Security professionals, Theme 4 is focused on improving workforce development within DHS and the broader IC.

• There is not a designated set of core competencies shared

by DHS members of the IC, leading to a lack of shared understanding of how to execute analysis work central to the homeland security mission.

• Current Learning Management Systems (LMS) at DHS do not have a standardized curriculum for counterterrorism analysts.

IMPACT 1

2

5

1

3

5

project

investigators

student researchers

conference presentation

scholarly publications

key recommendations (to strengthen the DHS intelligence analysis workforce)

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THEME 4 STORY

SUPPORTING THE CURRENT DHS WORKFORCE AND TRAINING THE FUTURE ONE

BY V IGNE SH MURUG AV EL

The harrowing events of 9/11 prompted the U.S. government to embark on the monumental organizational challenge of bringing together several public agencies under a single umbrella: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Created in 2002 to mobilize a unified workforce committed to the counterterrorism effort, DHS today comprises 240,000 employees spread across 22 agencies. Hundreds of different jobs exist in the department.

Even more variety exists in the different knowledge, skills, and abilities required to accomplish DHS goals. The DHS mission set is demanding and ever-changing. Counterterrorism efforts require a highly capable and well-trained workforce to thwart dynamic threats. Maintaining and developing such a workforce is a key challenge faced by the department. NCITE’s Theme 4: Workforce Development seeks to support this effort. The center’s first

THE DHS MISSION SET IS DEMANDING AND EVERCHANGING. COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS REQUIRE A HIGHLY CAPABLE AND WELL-TRAINED WORKFORCE TO THWART DYNAMIC THREATS. endeavor in addressing DHS’s workforce development concerns is a multi-year project led by Dr. Michelle Black.

Black is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science for UNO. Beyond her distinguished academic prowess,

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she adds years of professional experience in the U.S. Department of Defense to the NCITE team. Black served as a Psychological Operations Specialist for the U.S. Army Special Operations (Airborne) for four years. And she has worked in the Psychological Operations space as a defense contractor for another four years after that. Black’s key insight on the inner workings of government bodies is unmatched on the NCITE team.

BLACK IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE FOR UNO. . . .

SHE ADDS YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. . .

Her contributions to NCITE began with the center’s inception.

Black’s input has been key to the consortium’s designation as a DHS Center of Excellence. More recently, she has turned her attention to issues related to the training and educating of personnel in the counterterrorism space. Black’s interest in applying research to insurgency, terrorism, intelligence, and national security makes her the perfect researcher to tackle DHS’s workforce development challenges.

Workforce development for such a colossal organization may be seen as a daunting task to most, but she approaches the challenge with determined enthusiasm.

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

Black’s flagship project seeks to structure paths to meet and overcome counterterrorism workforce development obstacles.

Her research goal is to identify recommendations for technological training and education standards for the counterterrorism community.

BLACK’S INTEREST IN APPLYING RESEARCH ON INSURGENCY, TERRORISM, INTELLIGENCE, AND NATIONAL SECURITY MAKES HER THE PERFECT RESEARCHER TO TACKLE DHS’S WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES. Black and her students began by conducting a broad survey of what is currently being taught and trained to DHS analysts.

Ethnographic interviews of personnel from a variety of DHS components at the federal and local levels provided data ripe for applying scholarly research and domain analysis. While engaging with DHS stakeholders, Black noticed decision-makers wanting to better understand what is required to be an effective DHS analyst.

According to Black, the job of a DHS analyst is distinct from other government analyst roles. DHS analysts serve multiple DHS components. Their required domain knowledge, skills, and abilities for a task may change day-to-day. As such, she sharpened the project’s original aim of mapping the current landscape toward identifying commonalities in training and education. From the collected data, Black and her team were able to identify the core competencies that constitute a potent DHS analyst.

Her results included wide-ranging recommendations to stakeholders and direction to better focus workforce research efforts in the future. For example, in the second year, the project’s focus is on training and education related to technology.

DHS ANALYSTS SERVE MULTIPLE DHS COMPONENTS. THEIR REQUIRED DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES FOR A TASK MAY CHANGE DAY-TO-DAY.

Black’s first year NCITE research results have been impactful. For her part, Black said she feels especially indebted to her team.

“My students were very involved in the project – as much as possible,” she said. “They helped with contacting interviewees, transcribing responses, conducting domain analysis, a literature review, and even writing parts of the final report. I am very lucky to have them all!”

The challenge of workforce development for an organization as large and diverse as DHS cannot be tackled by any one researcher alone. Black hopes that together NCITE researchers can drive forward with solutions to multiple workforce development issues at once, ensuring a strong current and future Homeland Security workforce.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vignesh Murugavel is a doctoral student in industrialorganizational psychology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. A founding member of NCITE, he serves as research graduate assistant for NCITE Theme 4: Workforce Development.

Her analyses have revealed a need to determine the various technological requirements of jobs across DHS components and a need to examine existing training and education on technology use. Identifying points of alignment and gaps among components on this topic will help her team make more targeted and useful recommendations.

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THEME 4 PROJECT SNAPSHOTS UNO

STRENGTHENING THE CURRENT AND FUTURE HOMELAND SECURITY WORKFORCE PROJECT LEAD:

MICHELLE BLACK Identifying recommendations for technological training and education standards for the intelligence community workforce.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Identified entry-level intelligence competencies • Delivered final report with training and education recommendations to DHS

YEAR 2 METHOD • Analysis of interviews, surveys, reports, and documentation about intelligence training and workforce development, focusing on technology

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Improvements to intelligence training and education that can be implemented within the current DHS workforce structure • Provide the intelligence community with competency models that guide recruitment and selection practices for the future DHS workforce

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EDUCATION PROJECTS

IMPACT 4

13

projects

investigators

6

16

new graduate courses

student researchers

OVERVIEW In addition to research projects, the NCITE consortium has four education projects. While scientific research projects aim to build tools for the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE), education projects aim to build the pipeline for the homeland security workforce of the future. This is done through curriculum development, student development (particularly from Minority Serving Institutions), and integrating STEM subjects into security-related courses.

KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Created a fellowship program in which four students developed prototypes for innovative solutions to DHS challenges and embedded with operational units at DHS to gain field understanding.

• Brought undergraduate and graduate students together to apply big-

7

3

invited presentations or seminars

ITIN students embedded in DHS components

data and machine learning techniques to problems associated with SAR. • Provided training in STEM-focused technology, big data, visualization, data analytics, and disaster response to students in Homeland Security graduate programs.

• Connected business students with DHS stakeholders for an applied capstone project, exposing students to the HSE and providing solutions to DHS challenges.

1

3

new master’s program

new certificate programs

9

2

peer-reviewed publications

conference presentations

Students met and connected with DHS stakeholders

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EDUC AT ION PRO JEC T S S T ORY

WHAT DID NEBRASKA’S MBA CAPSTONE STUDENTS KNOW ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY?

BY ERIN GR ACE

Not much at first. At the beginning of the fall semester in NCITE’s first project year, Erin Bass, associate management professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), surveyed the UNO cohort. It was the first to pair up with DHS components in a course designed to offer MBA students real-world consulting experience and offer clients their free services.

Four out of five students surveyed said they had no exposure to or familiarity with Homeland Security. At the semester’s end, nearly all of them said they were aware of DHS needs. This represented, Bass said, “a big swing in interest.”

“FOR US TO SEE THE NEEDLE MOVE IN A MEANINGFUL WAY WAS A COOL IMPACT MEASURE.” Education projects are an important part of NCITE work. While scientific research projects aim to build tools for the Homeland

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Security Enterprise, education projects aim to build the current and future workforce. This is done through curriculum development, student development — particularly from Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) — and focus on integrating STEM subjects into security-related courses.

NCITE is funding four education projects. Bass’ project, which pairs MBA students with DHS components, is one of them.

The project offers an immediate effect: It exposes students to Homeland Security; in turn, DHS gets a business student’s trained eye on a problem.

Business skills are important for the DHS workforce. Take the capstone project involving Homeland Security Investigations or HSI. A pair of UNO students helped the HSI Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit deal with illegal mining and weapons trading in Africa. Students Lindsay Wyant and Jerry Farke were glad to dive into a subject they considered worthy. “Case studies can only take you so far,” said Wyant.

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

“ABOVE AND BEYOND MY EXPECTATIONS FOR A CAPSTONE. NOT A CANNED PROJECT WITH A SIMPLE SOLUTION. THIS IS A REAL-WORLD PROBLEM.” Two more NCITE education projects focus on diversifying the DHS applicant pool at Minority Serving Institutions, the University of Central Florida (UCF) and San Diego State University (SDSU).

The UCF project created a course that brought together undergraduate and graduate students to address problems related to Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) and fanaticism using big-data and machine learning techniques.

San Diego State University’s existing Homeland Security Graduate Program and its STEM-focused technology, big data, visualization, data analytics, disaster response, and near real-time data expertise, build educational products for supervisors, officers, and agents.

These products help identify technologies that would defend against adverse actions against them and the U.S. in general.

A fourth NCITE education project, based at UNO, similarly offers master’s-level students a chance to see DHS problems up close. And it offers to DHS the fresh, creative lens of Information Technology Innovation (ITIN) students. During NCITE’s inaugural year, three ITIN students spent part of the summer embedded with DHS components in Washington, D.C., and a fourth worked for NCITE research partners Stanford University and George Washington University. All four earned paid graduate fellowships, which helped students gain domain ability, deep-level understanding, and technical skills to derive innovative solutions for HSE customers and their challenges.

This initiative is the start of creating a pipeline of innovations and validated prototypes that lead to new businesses oriented to DHS mission sets for HSE.

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THE THREE STUDENTS WORKING FOR DHS SHARED THEIR EXPERIENCES: BRANDON LAI

MY DESIGN SOLUTIONS WERE IMMEDIATELY INTEGRATED AND PUT TO USE BY THE TEAM. KHYLIE KIGHT

IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE TASK APPROACH LIKE BUSINESS: KEEPING CUSTOMERS A PRIORITY AND COLLABORATING CLOSELY. BRANDON LAI

UNLIKE OTHER INTERNSHIPS, WE WERE EMBEDDED INTO REAL PROJECTS AND COULD SEE OUR WORK BE UTILIZED IN THE ORGANIZATION.

B.S. IN IT INNOVATION

INTERNSHIP: DHS INFORMATION AND ASSURANCE WORK Worked with a team that specialized in automation and refining work processes.

NEXT STEPS Moving to a new project as master’s capstone interest has changed to what drives recruitment. Will look for ways to predict patterns and targeted demographics like how modern brands engage with a target audience.

TAKEAWAYS • Government has adopted an industry-innovative approach of using SCRUM and AGILE development to track and ensure productivity. Despite the confidential nature of some sensitive government work, it was interesting to see task approach like business: keeping customers a priority and collaborating closely.

L AUREN ZIMMERMAN

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NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

KHYLIE KIGHT

L AUREN ZIMMERMAN

B.A. IN JOURNALISM AND MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS: CREATIVE MEDIA

DOCTORAL STUDENT IN IT; M.S. IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, B.A. IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

INTERNSHIP: HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS (HSI) INNOVATION LAB

INTERNSHIP: HSI INNOVATION LAB

WORK

Work on creation and maintenance of a dashboard that displays relevant data from both domestic and international sources. It is a subset of a larger project that works to centralize data to support law enforcement activities.

Designed IT tools to improve usability, interface, and delivery, including an animation used in a mobile tool.

NEXT STEPS

WORK

NEXT STEPS

Continued work on wireframes assisting the lead designer, work on additional UI design products for other parts of the HSI lab, and work on tool providing web-based tutorials and instructions for mobile tool.

Continue maintenance of dashboard as more international data sources are added. Creation of modeling to aid in data normalization for a centralized information hub.

TAKEAWAYS

TAKEAWAYS

• Government workers are everyday people: I had a limited background knowledge of the government before starting my fellowship. You might imagine my surprise when we were met with special agents that were more akin to the casual office workers that you’d meet in coffee shops than those reminiscent of “Men in Black.” The HSI lab is full of real people.

• She could see herself there: I was initially apprehensive about how counterterrorism and design might overlap … [but the experience] solidified for me how I can not only work but be an important asset to the Department of Homeland Security.

• Stimulating work environment: The people we met there were so amazing ... incredibly welcoming.

• Work was important: Unlike other internships, we were embedded into real projects and could see our work be utilized in the organization.

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EDUCATION PROJECT SNAPSHOTS UNO

UCF

SDSU

PROJECT LEAD:

PROJECT LEAD:

PROJECT LEAD:

DOUG DERRICK

ADAN VELA

ERIC FROST

Develop a pipeline of IT innovations and innovators for DHS and the HSE.

Develop and deliver a project-based course that applies big data and machine learning (ML) to problems related to Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) and fanaticism.

Provide STEM-focused training (technology, big data, visualization, analytics, disaster response) to students in SDSU’s Homeland Security (HSEC) Graduate Program to address real-world homeland security problems.

GRADUATE STUDENTS PROVIDE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR DHS

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Three ITIN students embedded with DHS organizations for summer of 2021 • Engagements with Coast Guard, Homeland Security Investigations, and Intelligence and Analysis • Two capstone projects and two Ph.D. theses related to DHS projects • One student pursuing Ph.D. with NCITE

YEAR 2 METHOD • Fund four graduate fellowships • Conduct technology needs assessments and requirements gathering efforts with DHS • Develop solutions and use Agile methodology to build innovations

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Create pipeline of innovators and innovations for HSE • Infuse novel thinking and IT solutions into applicable DHS problems • Create validated prototypes leading to new businesses oriented to DHS mission sets

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EXPANDING THE PIPELINE: VERTICAL RESEARCH AT SCALE

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Developed a course that applies ML to the solution of real-world problems faced

by Homeland Security • Initially deployed the course to undergraduate students • Revised course based on student feedback and learning outcomes

BUILDING CAPACITY AT MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Developed two new courses related to homeland security • Established a new master’s program at SDSU Imperial Valley (90% Hispanic population)

YEAR 2 METHOD

YEAR 2 METHOD

• Delivery of revised course material to undergraduate and master’s students with systematic program evaluation

• Redesign current homeland security classes around the DHS 2019 Strategy, 2020 Public Action Plan, and the 2020 CBP 2021-2026 Strategy

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Improve students’ knowledge and skills for solving DHS intelligence needs • Increase involvement of students and faculty in DHS graduate programs and employment opportunities

NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION CENTER

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Prepare students to identify and assess new terrorist threats using big data and STEM skillsets • Increase collaboration among trained students, DHS intelligence, and law enforcement (local and international)

UNO

BUILDING CAPACITY IN HSE-FOCUSED BUSINESS ANALYTICS PROJECT LEAD:

ERIN BASS Expose MBA students to viable careers in the HSE and deliver project solutions to DHS end-users.

YEAR 1 ACHIEVEMENTS • Students completed nine projects for DHS end-users • Three new DHS-focused business courses • New homeland security business analytics certificate

YEAR 2 METHOD • Administer DHS-focused business courses • Complete student projects to analyze DHS client needs and provide data analytics and recommendations

ANTICIPATED IMPACT • Increased student exposure to HSE and knowledge/skills/abilities relevant to the DHS workforce • Help DHS solve real-world problems

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Connect with NCITE at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Mammel Hall | Rod Rhoden Business Innovation Center Suite 270 | 6708 Pine Street | Omaha, NE 68182 ncite@unomaha.edu

402.554.2224

ncite.unomaha.edu

@NCITE_COE

NCITE

The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment. 0547RPTNCITE1121