PositiveID Corporation (fka PSID)

[greaseyfingers]

DHS Official Opposes Next-Gen Biowatch Sensors

A senior official does not believe the Homeland Security Department should proceed with plans to develop a third generation of sensors for identifying acts of biological terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.

Undersecretary for Science and Technology Tara O'Toole has advised her boss, Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, that the planned next-generation Biowatch sensor could not be trusted to uncover the aerial presence of such threats as plague, smallpox, and anthrax, informed researchers told the newspaper

O'Toole is worried the $3.1 billion estimated expense of the update in the first half-decade would waste department funding that could be better used on initiatives such as creating digital connections between public health offices, medical centers, and big HMOs, which would be useful in hastening the dissemination of medical countermeasures following a biological strike. She has shared her views on the matter with other DHS scientific personnel in addition to Napolitano, anonymous sources said.

"Her position is 'Kill it,'" one U.S. government researcher said.

Homeland Security spokesman Matthew Chandler said O'Toole was not allowed to discuss the matter. He did not offer a reason.

Napolitano is considering whether to authorize the five-year spending plan for the third generation of Biowatch sensors.

Senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have called on the Homeland Security Department to make available documents that contain O'Toole's opinions on the Biowatch program. The department has declined in hopes of preserving the confidential nature of the intradepartmental decision-making processes, officials said.
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/dhs-advised-hold-developing-next-gen-biowatch-sensors/