 |
Information Sharing
The budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for 2005 is estimated at $33.8 billion.
The money is intended to support first-responders, improved bio-surveillance, border security, explosive detection systems,
as well as address a wide range of other "security" related issues. In fact, the DHS was originally comprised of 22 separate
agencies that have integrated over 183,000 employees operating throughout the world.
Needless to say, it is not a simple task to integrate all these agencies and employees and we applaud all the hard work
and effort that has gone into getting DHS defined. In fact, Secretary Ridge is on public record in October 2003 stating DHS
"...must create new ways to share information and intelligence both vertically, between governments, and horizontally,
across agencies and jurisdictions."
In making good on his promise, this past month all 50 states, five territories, the District of Columbia, and a number of
major urban areas have been connected through the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN), an upgraded version of the
Joint Regional Information Exchange System. This system also extends coverage to National Guard units, State Emergency
Operations Centers, firefighters, law enforcement, and other related service providers.
Ultimately, the VisuaLinks and DIG technologies offered by VAI are designed to operate on enterprise-wide networks like
HSIN by securely pulling together a vast collection of data from different agencies. Today, this type of information
sharing is already a reality and as the policies governing the sharing of data between agencies are worked out, we can
expect to achieve much better domestic security.
There has been much discussion in the marketplace about sharing information among different users, organizations, and agencies.
Failed programs like MATRIX, TIA, and others were flawed from the start because they did not adequately take into consideration
the distributed requirements necessary to successfully realize information sharing among different entities. Loss of accountability
directly equates to loss of control, responsibility, and security.
Continued on VAI News page
|
|
|
|
|
