The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has announced that another cybersecurity technology has been licensed for commercialization.

This is S&T's third technology that has successfully gone through the Transition to Practice (TTP) program and into the commercial market. The Network Mapping System (NeMS), developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is a software-based tool that tells users what is connected to their network so that they know what needs to be protected. This new technology is being licensed to Cambridge Global Advisors, an Arlington, Va. based strategic advisory services firm.

"The brilliant minds of the nation's network of national laboratories are coming up with incredible technologies and solutions," said DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Dr. Reginald Brothers. "Transitioning those ideas into the commercial market where they can be put to practical use is a primary objective for S&T."

In 2012, the TTP program identified NeMs as a promising candidate for transition to the commercial marketplace. By mapping a network environment, this technology helps operational users understand what is on their network, so they know how to better protect it.

"TTP's goal is to find technologies with the potential to strengthen our nation's cybersecurity posture and assist those technologies in making the difficult journey from the research lab to the commercial marketplace," said TTP Program Manager Mike Pozmantier. "And as long as these innovative technologies are transitioned to a commercial or government end-user we're making a positive impact on the cyber landscape."

Established in 2012 as part of S&T's Cybersecurity Division in an effort to support the Department's mission of improving the nation's cybersecurity capabilities, the TTP program looks to transition federally-funded cybersecurity technologies from the laboratory to enterprise consumers. The program, led by S&T's Michael Pozmantier, also seeks to create institutional relationships between the cyber research community, investors, end users, and information technology companies by showcasing the technologies throughout the country to develop pilot and communalization opportunities. The next TTP technology demonstration event will be featuring fiscal year 2015 technologies to the finance sector and will be held in New York City on August 19, 2015. While this event targets the finance sector, registration for this event is free and is open to all cyber security practitioners, technology investors, systems investigators and IT companies.

Each year the TTP program selects eight promising cyber technologies to incorporate into its 36-month program. S&T introduces these technologies to end-users around the country with the goal of transitioning them to investors, developers or manufacturers that can advance them and turn them into commercially viable products.

Now in its third year, TTP has 24 technologies (eight from Fiscal Year 2013, nine from FY 2014 and seven from FY 2015) that are ready for transition to the marketplace. Of those 24, three technologies—Quantum Secured Communication, Hyperion, and now NeMS - have successfully transitioned into the marketplace through commercial licenses. In the next few months S&T will introduce eight new technologies into TTP's FY16 class and will. start to showcase these technologies to critical infrastructure sectors and potential investors.

"With the success of the NeMs technology transition, S&T hopes commercial technology partners and end-users will take notice of other technologies, not only in the TTP program, but in the entire government research and development community, as solutions to complex problems," said Pozmantier.