TechSolutions Supporting Statement v3

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

TechSolutions Program

(OMB No. 1640-NEW)

A. Justification.

1. The Department of Homeland Security TechSolutions program is responsible for providing information, technology, and training to the first responder community. Section 313 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (PL 107-296) established this requirement.

2. The Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, TechSolutions program will be collecting submitter and capability gap information from first responders (federal state, local, and tribal police, firefighters, and Emergency Medical Service). This will be accomplished using web based technology. The information will be used to address reported capability gaps, leading to improved safety and productivity. This is a new information collection request.

3. The TechSolutions program will use web based technology to collect submitter and capability gap information. In order to reduce burden and accommodate the geographical distribution of first responders throughout the country, web-based technology is being targeted as the collection mechanism.

4. The TechSolutions program has coordinated with FEMA, DHS S&T divisions, and members of the first response community (i.e. Inter Agency Board, National Firefighters Technology Resource Center) to determine if capability gaps, reported by first responders at a national level, are being captured and stored. No single entity has been identified as a national collection agent for this information. If an entity is identified in the future, TechSolutions will work with the identified collection agent to ensure a cooperative partnership is embraced.

5. The TechSolutions program is developing a web based IT system that streamlines the collection of submitter and capability gap information. The system will minimize the burden on all interested parties who are knowledgeable of first responder capability gaps and have a desire to provide a submission.

6. The collection of submitter and capability gap information from first responders is voluntary. There is no established increment or frequency for collecting information. If capability gap information is not collected, the TechSolutions program will be unable to quickly respond to first responders needs as directed by Section 313 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

7. TechSolutions requires first responders to submit a quad chart if their submission is selected for funding. A quad chart is a one page PowerPoint slide containing a brief project description, planned deliverables, payoffs achieved, and a three year funding projection. TechSolutions requests that Quad charts be provided within two work weeks (10days) of a project being selected for funding. No other special circumstances exist.

8. By notice in the Federal Register on May 30, 2007 (72 FR 30024), DHS S&T notified the public that it was requesting comments on this information collection. The notice allowed for a 60-day public comment period. No comments were received. DHS S&T then by notice in the Federal Register on August 28, 2007 (72 FR 49297), notified the public during a 30-day public comment period. No comments were received.

The TechSolutions program has consulted with the Department of Navy’s Office of Navy Research (ONR) regarding this initiative. ONR has established a similar system and data collection effort for acquiring capability gaps from Navy service men and women. The effort has been very successful. TechSolutions will be using similar data elements for its collection effort. TechSolutions, like ONR’s data collection requirements, are straight forward and require little guidance or clarity. ONR has not experienced issues with end users understanding requirements for collection. Reporting requirements for TechSolutions will be internal. The information collected and mechanism available for reporting meet all existing requirements.

Due to the wide geographic distribution of first responders throughout the country, it’s not realistic to assume personal correspondence will occur with each representative who submits information. Through web based technology, Techsolutions is implementing an automated mail reply that lets each submitter know his/her submission was received. Additional follow up with submitters will occur after capability gaps are reviewed and ranked. If a capability gap is selected for funding, the TechSolutions program will be in continuous contact with the submitter until project completion.

9. DHS S&T does not provide payments or gifts to respondents in exchange for a benefit sought.

10. TechSolutions assures that responses will be kept anonymous. TechSolutions follows the Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-589), which mandates that personal information solicited from individuals completing Federal records and forms be kept confidential. TechSolutions’ Privacy Threshold Analysis (PTA) is currently under review by the DHS Privacy Office. In addition, Tech Solutions will be operated in accordance with the E-Government Act (P.L. 107-347), December 2002 and the Federal Information Security Management Act (P.L. 107-347, Title III), December 2002.

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature in this information collection.

12. Annual Reporting Burden:

DHS Form	User Registration Form	Capability Gap Form	Information Request Form
No. of Respondents	37,500	250	250
No. of Responses per Respondent	1	1	1
Avg. Burden per Response (in hours)	0.083	.25	0.083
Total Annual Burden (in hours)	3,125	63	21
Average Hourly Wage Rate	$100	$100	$100
Total Annual Respondent Cost	$312,500	$6300	$2100

Annual Reporting Burden and Respondent Cost: The total estimated ICR Public Burden in hours is 3209. This figure was derived by summing the total annual burden hours from all forms. The total annual number of respondents is 38,000. This figure was derived by summing the number of respondents to each form.

Public Cost

The estimated annual public cost is $320,900. This figure was derived by summing the estimated annual respondent costs for all forms.

9. There are no capital or start-up costs associated with this information collection. Any cost burdens to respondents as a result of this information collection are identified in Item 14.

10. The estimated annual cost to the federal government in relation to this information collection is $2.5 million. This cost includes staffing costs for senior level directors, computer programmers, system administrators and mid level technical/engineers.  Cost also includes the purchase of servers and software for collecting, retaining, and storing the collected information.

11. This is a new information collection request.

12. DHS S&T does not intend to employ the use of statistics or the publication thereof for this information collection.

13. DHS S&T will display the expiration date of OMB approval for this information collection.

14. DHS S&T does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Not Applicable.

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