DHS Official Says Poor Planning Undercuts Info Sharing

The director of information sharing for the Department of Homeland Security's CIO Office has issued a new report taking the DHS to task over its lack of information sharing strategies, citing poor planning as a reason for the lapse.

According to an article by Alice Lipowicz on the Government Computer News website, the report by Martin Smith, entitled "Ten Barriers to Information Sharing," blasts the department for failing to devise clear strategies and concepts of operations.

Lipowicz says Smith described at least 10 obstacles that the department must overcome to advance information sharing. "Before making major IT investments, we need an overall strategy or concept of operations that describes how individual projects will fit into a consistent process framework and how that framework supports a strategic goal," Smith wrote. "We cannot hold up all investment until we have re-engineered every process, but we should make it a priority to invest in defining and documenting processes critical to homeland security."

Smith said homeland security agencies are struggling with defining a balance between sharing too much and too little information. He also identifies additional barriers to information sharing, including a lack of catalogs of existing information collections, lack of clear criteria for information-holders to make decisions about sharing, lack of performance baselines, and a lack of incentives for individuals and organizations to share information.

However, Lipowicz says the report makes a point to note that Smith's opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent the opinion of DHS.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/35396-1.html