MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jason Shevrin: [email protected], 202-994-5631
Timothy Pierce: [email protected], 202-994-5647
WASHINGTON (Feb. 26, 2020)—The George Washington University Program on Extremism will be part of a new consortium of academic, industry, government and laboratory partners throughout the country to support the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with research focused on extremism and counterterrorism, the university announced today.
The new National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center of Excellence will include 17 partner organizations. The University of Nebraska at Omaha will host the center, which will be funded by a 10-year, $36 million DHS grant. The center will work closely with the department's operational units to generate research and educate current and future homeland security leaders on the latest methods of counterterrorism. The center will focus on solutions that help prevent terror attacks by countering the radicalization of people and their mobilization to violence.
“The Program on Extremism is proud to be part of a consortium that will provide fact-based analysis on various forms of extremism at a critical time,” its director, Lorenzo Vidino, said.
The GW Program on Extremism is a leading academic research center on extremism with a focus on the Islamic State group. The program’s reports and findings have been widely shared in the media and have formed the foundation of congressional hearings and governmental policies. The program’s experts draw from decades of experience in government, policy and academia to regularly testify to and consult with policymakers and practitioners in the field. The program maintains one of the largest databases of English-language Islamic State digital propaganda and has extensively studied how the Islamic State group recruits and instructs its followers and members.
The new center will join 10 other active DHS centers of excellence, which were established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. More information about the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center of Excellence is available from DHS and from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
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