Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge April 29 highlighted his department's need for technological innovation during a speech before nearly 1,000 members of the Northern Virginia Technology Council in McLean, VA.

Ridge said the department needed good technology ideas that protected U.S. borders and citizens. He advocated an agency Web site that collects technology ideas related to domestic security (http://vendors.dhs.gov).

He discussed personal radiation detectors now in use for all border agents and gamma ray scans of shipping containers at border stations, but he said more new technology ideas were needed.

For example, he asked the audience whether anyone had an idea for a portable device that could scan for biological, chemical and radiological hazards, as well as explosives and guns.

"If you've got one of those ... we'd be happy to talk to you about it," he said.

The technology Ridge's agency needs is either out there, or it can be created by the U.S. technology sector, Ridge added.

"We want to create a climate where our needs and your abilities meet," he said. "We want to show you that homeland security is not incompatible with your bottom line."

Ridge asked the crowd for "good ideas and cost-effective solutions" for domestic security that can be copied across the United States.

"You are the innovators," he told the crowd. "America's future is, at least in part, in your hands."