Subject: [NEXTEL-1] DHS tech execs to work on 9-11 suggestions

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2004 18:46:37 -0400

DHS tech execs to work on 9-11 suggestions
BY Diane Frank
Published on Aug. 4, 2004

Information technology officials at the Homeland Security Department
plan to examine how they can advance at least four of the 9-11
Commission's recommendations.

Technology plays a role in many items mentioned in the July 22 report,
but DHS' Office of the Chief Information Officer will have an especially
important part in several efforts during the coming months, said Mark
Emery, deputy CIO at the department.

The first is the screening of visitors and immigrants across multiple
entities. The commission recommended integrating how the federal
government tracks people with the larger network for screening
transportation and facilities. Developing the standards and architecture
necessary to make that possible is something the CIO's office can help
shepherd departmentwide, Emery said. It will also require coordination
with other agencies, such as the Energy and Transportation departments,
he said Aug. 2 during the Western CIO Forum in Santa Fe, N.M.

Another recommendation to tackle is the development of standards,
including the use of biometrics, for issuing birth certificates and
driver's licenses. This reaches beyond DHS, bringing state and local
governments into the process, he said. The CIO office also will need to
continue to work on developing standards for sharing information on
those credentials and for allowing state and local officials to access
and verify them when a name is flagged.

DHS is "trying to add biometrics to everything," Emery said including
credentialing truck drivers, particularly those who transport hazardous
materials.

The commission's recommendation on further use of radio spectrum for
high-risk, urban and prioritized areas will have to involve Congress,
the Federal Communications Commission and others, but the office is
already working with other parts of DHS and agencies on pilot tests
nationwide. This includes tests in Seattle and Phoenix in conjunction
with the Justice Department, Emery said. Setting standards for
interoperable communications and driving industry to meet standards will
include upcoming requests for proposed solutions for the country's north
and south borders, he said.

Emery also cited the problem of sharing sensitive and secure information
among all the parts of government. In the coming months, the CIO office
will be transitioning the existing Homeland Security Data Network to the
Homeland Security Information Network, Emery said. That network will
enable federal, state and local officials to share classified
information, a step that many have been waiting to take since DHS kicked
off the sensitive-but-unclassified HSIN earlier this year, he said.

The CIO office is also getting ready to award approximately 12 grants to
public- and private-sector organizations for information-sharing
technologies at the state and local levels, he said.

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0802/web-dhscio-08-04-04.asp

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