DHS begins collecting feedback on long-term strategic plan

The Homeland Security Department launched its first of three online dialogues on Monday that ask the public to comment on the department's long-term strategic plans before they become official policy.

The dialogue is part of DHS' response to a request by Congress for the department to conduct a Quadrennial Homeland Security Review that would guide executives' strategic planning for the next four years. The effort, which is modeled after the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, collects public feedback about the content produced by the review's study groups.

The review targets those involved in homeland security, such as first responders and state and local government officials, but anyone can submit comments by signing into the Web portal. The feedback will contribute to a final report due to Congress by the end of the year.

"The [review] is an important opportunity for DHS to set forth our vision for homeland security, and address the challenges we face as a department," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in an online video message about the initiative. "This review will establish a foundation for homeland security activities now and in the future in order to enhance the security and resiliency of our nation."

For the review to be comprehensive, she added, "we need strong participation from our federal, state, local, tribal, nongovernmental and private sector partners."

The National Academy of Public Administration is hosting the dialogues, which will take place in three phases. The first, which went live at 8 a.m. on Monday and will run through midnight Sunday, focuses on the department's broad visions and goals, as defined by the study groups. The second and third dialogues, which will run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, and from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, respectively, will provide more details on DHS' long-term goals to address plans and strategies. A final report will be submitted to Congress on Dec. 31 and will incorporate some of the feedback and comments received through the online dialogues.

"This is a bold effort to let people inform the product," said Daniel Munz, senior research associate at the NAPA. "DHS understands that the consequence of asking people what they think is they won't always tell you what you want to hear."

Content produced by the study groups will fall into six areas:

-- Counterterrorism and domestic security management

-- Securing the borders

-- Smart and tough enforcement of immigration laws

-- Preparing for, responding to and recovering from disasters

-- Homeland security national risk assessment

-- Homeland security planning and capabilities

"For an administration that talks about the importance of transparency and collaboration, this is a wonderful way to go about collecting input and insights and encourage involvement," said Alan Balutis, director of the business solutions group at Cisco Systems and a fellow with NAPA. "You can involve more people, get outside the major urban areas, and solicit from across the country. It's a powerful tool."

Participants enter comments about policies from the study groups, suggest alternatives to the proposals and refine them in open discussion. They also can rate proposals and other comments that they consider valuable, and assign one- or two-word tags to categorize them. For example, a comment about the need for stricter Internet monitoring to improve cybersecurity could be assigned the tags "privacy" and "civil liberties." Participants then can click on any topic tag for a list of other policies and comments that have the same tag. The study groups can use the topic tags to identify broad themes and to analyze the comments and ratings by a region or community, such as what first responders are saying, for example.

Munz described the project's progress as "watching a brain wire itself," as individual participation contributes to an expanding dialogue.

"The more people we get [to participate], the more the tool becomes helpful," said David Heyman, assistant secretary for policy at DHS. Comments and policies that are the most meaningful "will bubble to the top so we can get a sense of the pulse of the community."

"It's been a challenge, how to best engage the public as a partner," he added. "This is an opportunity to raise awareness and begin that dialogue anew to make sure that the shareholders of America are a part of the discussion when we talk about the best ways of allocating resources."