Crossing the Valley of Death: Transitioning Cybersecurity Research into Practice

Abstract

New and innovative technologies will only make a difference if they’re deployed and used. It doesn’t matter how visionary a technology is unless it meets user needs and requirements and is available as a product via user-acceptable channels. One of the cybersecurity research community’s biggest ongoing challenges is transitioning technology into commercial or open source products available in the marketplace. This article presents an R&D execution model to increase the success rate of technology transition along with several examples of successful technology transition from the US Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate’s cybersecurity R&D program.