Homeland Security 2.0

The Homeland Security Department sent out a release this afternoon announcing the redesign of DHS.gov and the launch of an official DHS YouTube channel:

"Social media plays an increasingly large role in our engagement with the public, especially in the event of an incident or disaster," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. "These new tools will facilitate an open dialogue about the Department's security efforts across the nation and around the world."

The YouTube Channel will allow DHS to use video to highlight events, speeches, public service announcements and other related content. DHS' emphasis on web 2.0 tools such as YouTube allows the department to provide greater transparency and access to the public and our state, local, territorial, tribal, private sector, and international partners.

DHS has had some success in the past with its social media efforts. The Transportation Security Administration's TSA blog has been the subject of much acclaim for helping the public better understand the reasoning behind airport security. From the looks of it, the DHS YouTube channel will house videos from a number of agencies in the department, from FEMA to the Coast Guard.

At first glance, the upgrade to DHS.gov also appears to be a major improvement. According to DHS, the site is organized around Napolitano's five major responsibilities: counterterrorism, border security, enforcement of immigration laws, disaster preparedness and response, and department unification, with a navigation tab for each displayed prominently on the home page. The aesthetic is reminiscent of other Obama administration efforts like WhiteHouse.gov, but the new look is clean and the navigation fairly intuitive, with links to DHS' blog, Twitter and other Web 2.0 offerings displayed prominently.

Because it houses so many agencies with distinct missions and responsibilities, it becomes easy at times to forget that DHS is responsible for everything from disaster response to immigration enforcement. Surfing the new DHS web site is an excellent reminder of just how broad the scope of the department's mission really is.