FBI CIO: Culture inhibits info sharing

Cultural differences are the biggest obstacle preventing intelligence agencies from starting information-sharing programs, said Zalmai Azmi, chief information officer at the FBI.He said the intelligence community isn’t used to the concept of sharing information and therefore worries about security and leaks.“The introduction of new blood would help do things differently,” Azmi said in a keynote speech today at the Enterprise Architecture 2007 conference run by the E-Gov Institute. The institute is owned by 1105 Media, which also owns Federal Computer Week.Azmi said he wants to connect the bureau and its partners with a single network, but he wants to make sure there is enough security so that shared information is protected.Azmi said the FBI still has more steps to take before he is satisfied with the information-sharing program.“We’re still struggling with the concept of information sharing [such as] what standards to use [and] what information to even share,” he said.He also said that the FBI is working with Maj. Gen. Dale Meyerrose, CIO at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to develop concepts for a potential information-sharing program, and said a proof of concepts or a draft would be released soon.