DHS Wants Public Dialogue

The Homeland Security Department completed the first step of a three-step process to better link operations to agency missions by submitting a review of long-term strategic goals to Congress. Technology played a crucial role, said a DHS official, by providing representatives from all segments of the homeland security community with the opportunity to contribute.

The Quadrennial Homeland Security Review will guide DHS executives' strategic planning for the next four years. The effort, which is modeled after the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, collected public feedback about the content produced by the review's study groups through three online dialogues.

"The [review] benefited from engagement of thousands of people," including more than 100 stakeholder associations and 500 experts from all level so of government, academia and private sector, said DHS assistant secretary for policy David Heyman.

"This [method] is really unique in many regards to homeland security," Heyman said. "The Department of Homeland Security is not homeland security in and of itself. As such, if you're going to do a review, you need to engage that broader community. We definitely took into consideration key comments and recommendation from those we engaged, and it strengthened the document as a result."

With the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review now in the hands of Congress, DHS will focus on a bottom-up review that identifies the activities within the department that align with defined strategic goals. Heyman expects that review to be completed by Spring and contribute to DHS' fiscal 2012 budget proposal.

"I can't predict [what] the fiscal 2012 will [look like], particularly since there will be a negotiations between the department and the Office of Management and Budget," Heyman said.