The CINA Center serves as a strategic innovation partner for Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE) stakeholders, enhancing their efforts to combat networked criminal activities. By concurrently pursuing scientific advancements and practice breakthroughs, CINA assists the HSE to better comprehend, anticipate and respond to challenges posed by evolving illicit operations, and shapes a workforce that will excel in this complex operational landscape as it strives to protect our homeland. Accordingly, the CINA Center primary goals in pursuit of its mission include:
• Goal 1: Innovate to Support Current HSE Needs
CINA pursues the development and dissemination of innovative solutions (including methodologies, knowledge products, technologies, and tools) that make HSE stakeholders more effective and efficient in thwarting and prosecuting networked criminal organizations and other homelandsecurity-related criminals.
• Goal 2: Anticipate Emerging Challenges and Opportunities
CINA informs the HSE of emerging and future capabilities or threats, and assists the HSE as it reshapes and expands its analytical capabilities.
• Goal 3: Develop the Current and Future HSE Workforce
CINA provides professional development opportunities to strengthen the skillsets of the current homeland security workforce, develops inventive academic offerings and immersion opportunities for the future workforce, and supports workforce diversity by cultivating and establishing interaction mechanisms with Minority Serving Institutions.
We pursue our mission and these goals through a comprehensive set of activities comprising three distinct yet interconnected components:
• Research activities
CINA manages an evolving portfolio of research projects at the intersection of the operational needs of the HSE and cutting-edge academic research, to improve current HSE operations (Goal 1) and shape future ones (Goal 2).
• Outreach activities
CINA operates a broad outreach portfolio to highlight opportunities and challenges (Goal 2), to foster team-building in research pursuits (Goal 1) and to advance workforce skillsets (Goal 3).
• Workforce development activities
CINA vigorously pursues and offers numerous academic and training activities, virtually and in person, to expand knowledge and hone critical skills (Goal 3).
Through these activities CINA fosters innovation across a broad spectrum of metrics—one student researcher, one algorithm, one knowledge product, one event at a time.