Homeland info sharing advances

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2002/0819/web-cooper-08-20-02.asp

By Diane Frank 
Aug. 20, 2002

The Office of Homeland Security is moving forward with several
initiatives to develop a homeland security information technology
enterprise architecture that encompasses not only federal requirements
but also the needs of state and local governments and the private
sector.

Within the next month, the office will launch a Web site for people at
all levels of the public and private sectors to access and share
information on existing homeland security-related projects, best
practices and centers of excellence, said Steve Cooper, senior
director for information integration and chief information officer for
the Office of Homeland Security. Cooper was speaking Aug. 19 at the
Government Symposium on Information Sharing and Homeland Security in
Philadelphia.

The Office of Homeland Security is working on several pilot projects
based on initiatives at the state and local levels, including a
10-state coalition testing methods for sharing federal law enforcement
information and intelligence with state law enforcement agencies,
Cooper said. The more projects and practices that the government can
find and build on, the more likely it is that change will occur, he
said.

"This Web site will enable us to begin to share and communicate what's
going on," he said.

In another effort to reach out to the state and local level, Office of
Homeland Security officials met with the National Association of State
Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) last week in Cincinnati to start
working on state requirements for the enterprise architecture. In that
first meeting, officials dealt with the basic questions of definitions
and the approach that should be taken, Cooper said.

Because local-level officials are dispersed, homeland security
officials are still trying to figure out the best way to contact them
and keep in touch, he said.

"It is imperative that we all participate and that we get this
enterprise architecture right," Cooper said. "We have got to hear from
everybody."

The Office of Homeland Security has also chartered three CIO working
groups at the federal level, looking at the architecture needs for
border security, emergency response, and chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear hazards. These working groups align with the
areas outlined in the Bush administration's proposed structure for the
proposed Homeland Security Department, Cooper said.

The working groups pull together the CIOs from the agencies involved
in each of these efforts, and other working groups will be assembled
as they are needed, he said.

The Defense Department and the intelligence community are already
talking with the Office of Homeland Security about the possibility of
setting up another working group for intelligence information, said
Roseanne Hynes, senior executive of DOD's homeland security task
force.



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