DHS awards $9M for info sharing

To encourage better information sharing, the Homeland Security Department today awarded $9 million for demonstration projects in its Information Technology and Evaluation Program (ITEP) that will help show how to remove barriers to sharing information.

"One of the important lessons our nation learned in the aftermath of the [Sept. 11, 2001] terrorist attacks was that we had to do a better job of sharing information at all levels of government, as well as with the private sector," said C. Suzanne Mencer, director of DHS' Office for Domestic Preparedness.

Representatives of that office and the Office of the Chief Information Officer, which are co-administrators of the program, evaluated 113 proposals and selected 12 projects for funding:

1. Secure Homeland Access and Reporting Environment (Alabama): $990,298.

2. Wi-Fi Security Project for First Responders (Arizona): $499,821.

3. Extensible Emergency Operations Center (California): $897,000.

4. Data Coordination Homeland Security Module (Washington, D.C.): $976,174.

5. Common Situation Display System (Hawaii): $416,205.

6. Emergency Geographic Information Network (Maryland): $997,098.

7. Criminal Justice Information Systems Integration and Sharing Pilot (Michigan): $979,814.

8. South Sioux City Information Sharing Project (Nebraska): $457,226.

9. XML-Based Facial Imaging for Law Enforcement and Other First Responders (North Carolina): $470,000.

10. Enterprise Geospatial Technology Data Program (Pennsylvania): $603,220.

11. Port Security Communications Network (Rhode Island): $856,000.

12. Justice Gateway: Federated Directory (Wisconsin): $856,700.