Congress Seeks to Improve Military Technology Sharing

Technology designed for the military is starting to creep into the civilian sector to protect us against terrorism, but critics are wondering if we’re using the technology to its full advantage.

According to an article by William Matthews on the DefenseNews.com website, some members of Congress are worried that “the process for identifying military equipment that could help civilian authorities is too haphazard and may be overlooking some promising technology,” Matthews says. The critics are also worried that a lack of coordination between the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security may waste money by duplicating research and development efforts.

“Much has been done on a largely informal basis to share good ideas between the departments,” Rep. Jim Saxton told Matthews. “I believe it would be better to have a more rigorous, formal process in place.”

However, Matthews points out that the existing process for information sharing is informal, at best, and that most authorities aren’t even sure how to propose a more formal process of idea sharing.

Two years ago, Matthews says, Congress created the post of assistant defense secretary for homeland defense. That position is responsible for identifying and transferring useful technology from the military to federal, state and local first responders.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=988619&C=america