Structurally Sound - Institute for Homeland Security

Former NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang resigned over allegations of an affair with a Chinese spy. There are plenty of plugins to critical infrastructure – the incident could delay AI infrastructure development and complicate crucial supply chains. It also highlights insider threats, emerging infrastructure issues and other familiar topics. We’re joined by Dr. Jason Davis, a fellow of the Institute for Hom...

Supply chains face myriad threats these days - everything from traditional delays to scams and deliberate cyberattacks. This week, we chat with Glenn Master, the co-founder of the International Supply Chain Protection Organization and longtime security expert, about building resiliency and safety into supply chain security.

Do you know where the gas in your car originated? Was it all above board, or was it smuggled into the country and injected into legal supply chains without taxes or fees? This week, we unpack oil fraud and gas smuggling from Mexican drug cartels, a diversified revenue stream that might be more profitable than drugs or human trafficking. We're joined by Dr. Nathan Jones, the chair of the security s...

Resiliency is key for any electrical grid. That includes breadth and modernization, along with savvy recruiting. This week, we chat about battery storage, electric lines and updates to the grid with Donald Wright, the director of operations for Quanta Infrastructure Solutions Group.

The phrase "insider threat" calls to mind high-profile conflicts, like corporate sabotage or international espionage. Those definitely count - but garden variety accidents do, too. This week, we've got part two of our conversation with Dave Pezzutti, a senior official for insider threats and counterintelligence at Lockheed Martin.

International supply chains are critical to any business - and disruptions vary from subtle to very high profile. This week, we've got part one of our chat with Dave Pezzutti, a senior official for insider threats and counterintelligence at Lockheed Martin, about evolving supply chain risks, artificial intelligence and resiliency.

Everyone in healthcare knows training is important. How do you quantify or measure that training, though - and make it engaging? This week, we chat about pernicious bugs and mass casualty incident training exercises with Kara Marshall, the program manager for institutional preparedness at UTMB's Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness & Education Program (SPECTR...

Sooner or later, a disaster will strike your business. Business continuity plans are common but they're uniquely critical in healthcare, where natural crises or cyberattacks could complicate or compromise patient care. This week, we explore those challenges with Adam Lee, the director of emergency management and organizational resilience for the Memorial Hermann Health System, and Lisa Spivey, sen...

What does job training look like in the age of artificial intelligence? What about education? This week, we replay a panel discussion from our recent "AI at the Crossroads: Impacts at the Nexus of Critical Infrastructure, Security & the Future of Work," a webinar exploring AI as emerging critical infrastructure. This panel, on workforce training and development, offered an engaging conversatio...

School is finally back in session - from college all the way to preschool -  and my daughter's long-awaited new favorite movie is in theaters. "Paw Patrol 3: The Dino Movie" presents an offbeat opportunity to talk about kid-friendly portrayals of critical infrastructure protection and careers, and how grown-up portrayals of the same jobs on "NCIS" and "CSI" shape expectations a...

Every actor is within six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. We can measure and chart that professional network - and we can do it with Mexican drug cartels and critical infrastructure assets. This week, we chat with Dr. Nathan Jones, professor and chair of the Security Studies department at Sam, and Braell Dotson, an enterprising recent graduate who coded a plugin to open-source softwar...

The trucking industry faces myriad modern challenges. Some are conventional, but plenty of others are emerging and evolving quickly. This week, we're podcasting a keynote address from our transportation symposium earlier this summer. John Contestabile, the director of public safety solutions at Skyline Technology Solutions, explores that changing threat landscape and how it affects risk management...

Trucking and transportation are all about logistics - and risk management. How can you run lean while keeping your eyes on the road? This week, we're revisiting a panel from our livestreamed transportation symposium in May with John Suarez from the Institute for Homeland Security and Angelica Garcia and Daniel Sandoval from Cocoon Consulting and Logistics Services.

In a crisis, knowing who to call is critical - and when to call for backup. This week, we unpack a crisis management and tabletop hurricane exercise down in the Valley with Catherine Martin-Trujillo, the emergency preparedness coordinator for the Brownsville Public Utilities Board, and explore big takeaways for emergency exercises and preparation.

The new world screwworm is a nasty pest that's back in Texas for the first time in decades. Monitoring and communication are key - but so is old-school technology to eradicate the parasite without pesticides. Also, the Institute for Homeland Security is headed to Brownsville this week to help strategize hurricane preparations and response. We're bringing along an interactive "Simtable" and our res...

Information is everywhere. Do you have a plan to cut through the noise in a crisis? This week, we chat about information overload and effective communication strategies with Sam Houston State's Dr. Robert Gauthreaux, an assistant professor of practice of journalism and emerging media, and Dr. Tony Yao, an assistant professor of emerging media.

There's always some subjectivity in security assessments, but translating that expertise into business speak and statistical equations can make a world of difference in corporate security. This week, we chat with Brandon Martin, the executive director of the Energy Security Council, about his organization and lessons learned from his years in law enforcement and the private sector. 

Generative artificial intelligence has the potential to upend most industries - but it only works if you know how to work with it, not hide behind it. This week, we look back on last month's INFORMS Analytics+ conference with Daniel Windle, director of sales operations at Trinity Industries; Andrew Hartley, a data analyst with Navy Federal Financial Group; and David Stone, a research associate wit...

Imagine a ladle on a stick. Now imagine you're dipping in untreated waste water. How many viruses would you pull up - and what could those pathogens say about local health? This week, we chat about wastewater monitoring, viral DNA and public health with Dr. Michelle Crum, the interim chair of the department of preventative medicine and population health at the University of Texas at Tyler, and Dr....

How do you plan for mass casualty incidents, especially in healthcare? Tabletop exercises and planning are a good start - especially when they prompt unexpected or innovative questions. This week, we chat with Donald Berger, Administrative Director of Safety Operations at University Medical Center and El Paso Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Joel Hendryx, the recently retired chief medical office...

Who do you trust? Who would you call  right now  if your industry took a sudden left turn? If a name isn't springing to mind, then you might want to work on building your trust network. This week, we chat with Dr. Jason Davis and Mike Maloney about the importance of trust, how to build likeability and memorability, and the importance of strong and weak ties.

Everyone notices when something expensive breaks. Smaller issues, like water leaks and electrical issues, can fly under the radar - but those charges  really  add up. They can also fall under different terms or onto different expense reports, making them harder to track and prevent. This week, we chat with Dr. Robert Emery, the vice president for safety, health, environment & ri...

Effective communication is all about cutting through the noise and providing accurate information - especially during a crisis. This week, we chat about agricultural crises, trust networks and a bit of farm economics with Blair Fannin, the media relations manager and disaster assessment and recovery public information officer for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

A few months ago, when the Iranian government faced major nationwide protests, they turned off the internet for most of the population. Could that happen in the United States? This week, we chat with Dr. Karpoor Shashidhar and Dr. Cihan Varol of the computer science department at Sam Houston State about internet infrastructure at home and abroad. We also talk with Scott McHugh, program executive f...

Let's imagine your company relies on a major transportation hub or port of entry. You get a call in the middle of the night - that hub is shut down for ten days. Do you know who to call? Do you have a plan? Those aren't hypothetical questions for anyone in El Paso, where the airport was suddenly closed last week. It reopened after a few hours but it's a good example of the need for diversification...