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GCN Home > 04/18/05 issue

Who’s at home for DHS

By Wilson P. Dizard III, GCN Staff

IT programs approach crucial stages, as Cooper joins high-level exodus

The Homeland Security Department doesn’t maintain a threat advisory system on internal operations. But if it did, its technology projects might be moving from Code Blue to Code Yellow, for elevated risk.

Critical decisions lie ahead for a number of IT projects at a time when the department faces a growing number of vacancies.

The resignation of DHS CIO Steven I. Cooper this month continued the leadership exodus among high-level policy and technology jobs.

Cooper, who helped manage many high-profile programs that face turning points in the next six months, predicted the department would make steady progress.

“I don’t think the pending vacancies will hurt the IT transformation, nor do Ibelieve [Secretary Michael Chertoff’s] review will delay our progress,” he said. “Our plans have been approved and in motion for some time. I believe that the review will result in more focus being placed on the IT infrastructure transformation and cybersecurity, thus enhancing our progress.”

Cooper has laid out a technology agenda for DHS for the rest of the year. Others, however, see a logjam ahead.

Chertoff’s policy review could lead to a realignment of DHS’ technology governance. He has emphasized that he wants to arrange the department’s resources according to the threats the country faces, rather than according to existing bureaucratic structures.

Last week before the House Homeland Security Committee, Chertoff called the leadership turnover “a significant problem,” but said “we are moving rapidly to fill the jobs.”

Risk analysis

Another source of uncertainty is the administration’s plan to consolidate the department’s IT-intense risk analysis functions in a new Screening and Coordination Office, subject to congressional approval.

The leadership vacuum and policy review delay “lead to a timeout at the very time the threat is ongoing, there are a lot of challenging decisions in the inbox and new ones filling it up on a daily basis,” said Stephen E. Flynn of the Council for Foreign Relations in New York.

DHS officials face major decisions on procurements such as the Border Patrol’s America’s Shield Initiative, case management systems and the Integrated Wireless Network Project.

Flynn said it could take until the autumn or later to fill the political appointee positions at DHS, considering the delays in performing background checks, scheduling Senate committee hearings and conducting floor votes. “There is a lot of complacency in Washington about the mission, and there are other players that see DHS as a competitor and are happy to see it wrapped around its own axle,” he said.

More news on related topics: Homeland Security, IT Management, COOP / Telework



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