Bridging the Data Disconnect: Information Sharing Essentials

"We must open lines of communication and support like never before between agencies and departments, between federal and state and local entities and between the public and private sectors. We must be task oriented. The only turf we should be worried about protecting is the turf we stand on." Gov. Tom Ridge in accepting the post as director of the Office of Homeland Security.

In his acceptance speech last October, newly named Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge specified two essentials for homeland defense: top-to-bottom communication and support among government agencies and the private sector, and eliminating the turf that has so often stopped cooperative efforts. Last year's terrorist attacks opened many eyes to the necessity for information sharing. However, as pointed out by officials from all levels of government, while the need to share and cooperate is now understood, uprooting old habits and building the necessary skills are still difficult.

Sen. Fred Thompson R-Tenn., said in a June hearing on "Homeland Security and the Intelligence Community" that government is not good at some of the basics of information-sharing systems. Information technology, managing human capital, financial management and overlap and duplication, are all high-risk activities for government. "All of the things that are vital to this are things we are awful at," said Thompson.

Jim Flyzik, senior advisor to Tom Ridge, and vice chair of the Federal CIO Council, while acknowledging the problems ahead, was a bit more optimistic as he briefed IPC delegates. Flyzik said he was responsible for drafting a national strategy by July. "Once we deliver our national strategy to the president," he said to state and local delegates, "you will see more outreach efforts." The first goal, he explained, will be to tear down federal information silos. The second will be to share homeland security information with state, local and private-sector entities. "Technology will be one of the easier issues to deal with," he said. "Ridge said the only turf is the one we're standing on; we're not going to tolerate agency heads that dig in. Paul O'Neill is giving us Customs and Treasury and all he said was: 'this is the right thing to do.'"

A Status Check
"Homeland security has to begin with first responders," said Javier Gonzalez, president of the National Association of Counties. He pointed out to IPC delegates that first responders to last year's terrorist attacks came from local government. When the Pentagon was attacked, for example, the first responders came from Arlington County, Va. Gonzalez, however, while pointing out the heroic efforts in New York City and the well-coordinated response in Pennsylvania, admitted that at the local government level, information sharing has technical and political problems that can bring even simple projects to a halt. Gonzalez, a supervisor from Santa Fe County, N.M., said that in his own area, local government first responders use cell phones to call the various dispatch centers, because they have no shared public safety communications system.

Another county official discussed the human impediments to something as simple as compiling a county telephone directory. The sheriff didn't want jail personnel listed. Some county executives didn't want to be bothered by phone calls, others wanted to be the only contact in their offices. The project slowed then stopped, and the only thing that worked, said the official, was patience and face-to-face communication to explain the project, handle concerns and build trust.

State and federal agencies have their own information disconnections. One state CIO said she worked for a year and a half to get five justice agencies to talk, spending most of that time with their attorneys deciding if they could even divulge what they should share. Another state CIO said that while Tom Ridge has called for coordinated state homeland security plans, no guidelines have been issued on