DHS to create online dialogue for security review

The Homeland Security Department plans to create an online dialogue with security and policy experts nationwide to help officials prepare its first Quadrennial Homeland Security Review.

The review, required by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, is expected to use the expertise of security and policy experts in federal, state, local and tribal governments, in Congress, in the private sector and in academia.

DHS plans to use the online system to seek input on questions or concepts that arise during the review process, according to a notice published today in the Federal Register.

Having such a broad base of homeland security experts makes such a system a necessity, according to DHS officials. “The homeland security community is so vast that physically convening representative and inclusive study groups that are also able to work efficiently and effectively is virtually impossible,” the notice states.

The online dialogue, which will run for three months, will enable those experts to provide their input and to rate and respond to input provided by others. Administration officials believe this system will make it easier to identify the most popular ideas and important overarching themes.

The system is based on the idea of “radical scalability,” the notice states. “The more feedback that is received, the more clearly sorted participants’ preferences and priorities become.”

The department also will accept ideas, comments or position papers through other electronic means.

The Obama administration currently is conducting two other national online dialogues: one on making government more transparent and another on improving government rule-making.