News Release: DHS Announces New 24.1 Small Business Innovation Research Pre-Solicitation

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program released six additional topics for the new SBIR 24.1 Pre-solicitation, providing small businesses a chance to review the topics and ask clarifying technical questions about topic requirements over a select period of time. SBIR provides funding and support to small businesses to develop innovative technologies and solutions that address homeland security challenges.

“The SBIR program is one of the best ways for small businesses to partner with DHS to explore innovative concepts with non-dilutive funding,” said DHS SBIR Director Dusty Lang. “Small businesses are a crucial part of the DHS mission, and this program enables the Department to interact with these entities and create an environment of innovation toward economic growth that benefits the country.”

The topics are listed below. For more information, including full descriptions, please visit SAM.gov. Technical questions should be emailed to the specific addresses listed in the 24.1 SBIR Topic Areas (Appendix A) for each topic. Small businesses have until 5:00 PM ET on December 14, 2023, to submit questions.

The DHS topics in the 24.1 SBIR Pre-Solicitation are:

DHS241-001 – Agnostic Detection of Synthetic Opioids and Other Illicit Drugs

DHS241-002 – Data Labeling and Curation at Scale (DLCS) for Machine Learning Algorithms

DHS241-003 – 911 Voice-over-IP Telephone Dispatchable Location System

DHS241-004 – Software Defined Radio for Public Safety (SDR-PS)

DHS241-005 – Video Analysis of Drug and Human Smuggling Activities

DHS241-006 – Enhancing Mobile Radiological/Nuclear (R/N) Detection Through Contextual Information

The DHS SBIR program is also launching its Phase 0 program, designed to increase outreach to small businesses that have never applied before.

“The Phase 0 program is designed to reach new potential offerors, help them understand the process, and provide fresh perspectives for DHS to partner on novel solutions for our mission needs,” said Lang.