DHS announces departmentwide efficiency review

The secretary of the Homeland Security Department issued a directive on Tuesday that requires agencies to review plans to reduce costs, streamline processes and improve the availability of information in a departmentwide strategy to become more efficient, according to a DHS press release.

Secretary Janet Napolitano said she plans to form a steering committee of leaders from the departmental agencies that will consolidate duplicate processes and improve accountability. Homeland Security will hold a meeting by the end of February to develop strategies and provide more details for agencies to follow when conducting the reviews.

DHS provided few specifics about how the department would improve processes, but technology likely will play a key role in the strategy.

"With how big the department is and how many initiatives are already under way, [the secretary] doesn't want to focus on areas that have already efficiency built in," said one agency official who asked not to be named. "We don't need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, [the steering committee] will take a step back and get a fresh look at everything already under way. This first [stage] is about people putting their heads together to come up with some great ideas."

Napolitano led a similar initiative when she was governor of Arizona, focusing on reducing costs and improving efficiency in procurement, energy conservation, travel, fleet management, training and electronic communications. The programs saved the state more than $1 billion, DHS said.

The efficiency review is the latest in a number of directives Napolitano has issued to evaluate the department's business processes.

Members of Congress and the Government Accountability Office have criticized DHS for delays in consolidating the IT systems in the 22 agencies that formed the department in 2003. This initiative aims to address those criticisms. Homeland Security published a solicitation on Jan. 9 to integrate its financial, acquisition and asset management processes. Contractors have until Feb. 23 to submit proposals for the contract.