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As of October 25, 2020, there are 4812 open recommendations, of which 473 are priority recommendations. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as Closed-implemented or Closed-not implemented.
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Recommendation: To help ensure that biosurveillance-related funding is directed to programs that can demonstrate their intended capabilities, and to help ensure sufficient information is known about the current Gen-2 system to make informed cost-benefit decisions about possible upgrades and enhancements to the system, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and other relevant officials within the Department to not pursue upgrades or enhancements to the current BioWatch system until the Office of Health Affairs (OHA): (1) establishes technical performance requirements, including limits of detection, necessary for a biodetection system to meet a clearly defined operational objective for the BioWatch program by detecting attacks of defined types and sizes with specified probabilities; (2) assesses the Gen-2 system against these performance requirements to reliably establish its capabilities; and (3) produces a full accounting of statistical and other uncertainties and limitations in what is known about the system's capability to meet its operational objectives.
Agency: Department of Homeland Security Status: Open
Comments: DHS told us in June, 2019 that it terminated the Biodetection Technology Enhancements program to enhance BioWatch. Additionally, DHS is transitioning to a new acquisition program called BioDetection 21 intended to replace BioWatch. We will update the status of this recommendation as we obtain more information about DHS's BioDetection 21 acquisition efforts and the extent to which these efforts are consistent with our recommendation.
Recommendation: To help reduce the risk of acquiring immature detection technologies, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs, in coordination with the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, to use the best practices outlined in this report to inform test and evaluation actions for any future upgrades or changes to technology for BioWatch.
Agency: Department of Homeland Security Status: Open
Comments: DHS told us in June, 2019 that it terminated the Biodetection Technology Enhancements program to enhance BioWatch. Additionally, DHS is transitioning to a new acquisition program called BioDetection 21 intended to replace BioWatch. We will update the status of this recommendation as we obtain more information about DHS's BioDetection 21 acquisition efforts and the extent to which these efforts are consistent with our recommendation.
