Homeland e-learning group created

The Office of Homeland Security has created a new working group to focus entirely on developing common e-learning tools and courses for the new Homeland Security Department.

The group is intended to make sure that internal and external training are coordinated across the department, Lee Holcomb, director of infostructure for the Office of Homeland Security, said Dec. 10.

"E-learning, in my opinion, will be an important part of the new department," he said, speaking at the E-Gov Homeland Security conference, sponsored by FCW Media Group, in Washington, D.C.

Calls went out last week to all the organizations that are moving into Homeland Security asking for training officials to get involved in the working group, Holcomb said.

Internal employees will be trained, and the department also will lead training development for state and local agencies and other first responders.

Holcomb, the former chief information officer at NASA, said that the best approach likely will be to build on training that already exists, much the way NASA did with the computer-based information security training developed by the Defense Information Systems Agency.