Emerging Risk Matrix (ERM) Feedback Survey

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 1601-0014)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Emerging Risk Matrix (ERM) Feedback Survey

PURPOSE: Collect qualitative feedback information individuals experienced in Emerging Risk (ER) subject matter regarding their experience and views. This survey is voluntary and the information collected will be used to inform future PLCY work in ER.

The ERM is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans (PLCY) program within the Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience (CIRR) Group working closely with the DHS Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate. The CIRR Group initiated the program to identify and evaluate risk to the homeland over the next 10 years within DHS’s ability to address or mitigate. The goal is to identify emerging risk to the homeland over the next 10 years which will then provide better information to support DHS internal process, review, and policy making to decide to accept, address, or defer action on the risks identified.

This collection of information is necessary to enable CIRR to garner feedback in an efficient, timely manner, in accordance with DHS’s commitment to improving service delivery as a means of contributing to the continuous improvement of the program. In this case, the ERM exists within DHS PLCY’s CIRR Group. The information collected from individuals will help ensure that the ERM is informed by the views of individuals within academia, industry, and venture capital with regard to the emerging risks facing the homeland over the next 10 years. This information will provide insights into individual perceptions, experiences and expectations, provide an early warning of issues, or focus attention on areas where DHS may consider review and policy to address emerging risk through investments and/or operational programs. These collections will allow for ongoing, collaborative and actionable communications between the Agency and participants. It will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Individuals in academia, industry, and venture capital whose work and expertise relates to ER subject matter.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[X] Focus Group [ ] Other: _________________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: _____________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Private sector participants from industry, academia, and venture capital.	89	60 minutes	9 4,800 minutes
Totals			80 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated additional cost to the Federal government is $0. This work will be subdivided into two parts: outreach and coordination; and processing and evaluation.

Outreach and coordination will be conducted by CIRR staff as part of their work for the office, this activity is within the scope of their position description.

The processing and evaluation will be conducted by contractors already retained for this kind of work and this activity falls within the scope of their work. Once the survey results are evaluated, additional federal costs for this survey will not be incurred.

This is expected to be an annual survey and, although this year is cost neutral, next year’s survey may be allocated a portion of the contractor costs if this is included within their scope of work.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

CIRR will engage with government, government investment vehicles, and/or Federally-Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) to identify potential participants for focus group survey. CIRR will invite individuals to participate in the focus group survey and, upon acceptance, email a survey link to each individual. The survey will be taken by the specific individual identified and would be representative solely of their qualitative views about the set of emerging risks provided.

Date will be organized and analyzed using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis which will seek to organize and identify trends within qualitative data sets that may be of interest to DHS. This data will not be used to collect quantitative data and will not be statistically significant such that it could extrapolate the sample’s views to any specific organization or group.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] No [Follow-up, non-standardized oral communications may occur as needed to clarify feedback received (5 C.F.R. 1320.3(h))]

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