White House launches governmentwide review of information sharing

The White House has begun a governmentwide review of information sharing and is establishing a new oversight committee.

In a memo to 18 department secretaries and the head of the FBI obtained by FederalNewsRadio, John Brennan, the assistant to the President for homeland security and counterterrorism, says that Mike Resnick is the new senior director for information sharing policy in the Executive Office of the President.

Resnick is leading the review that includes "the current status of activities aimed at establishing the Information Sharing Environment…" the July 2 memo states.

Brennan says Resnick will be supported by the Office of Management and Budget in the governmentwide review.

"He is also charged with leading an interagency policy process to identify information sharing and access priorities going forward," Brennan writes. "To streamline and strengthen this effort, the Information Sharing Council will be integrated into the Information Sharing and Access Policy Interagency Committee, such that the important work of the ISC will move forward under the auspices of the Executive Office of the President."

Brennan says the progress made by the Information Sharing Environment (ISE) provides a strong foundation to move forward. He writes that there are strong possibilities for advancement, such as more closely coordinating cybersecurity and information sharing and access policies and priorities.

This is another piece to the administration's plan to better integrate the assorted identity management and access control initiatives, such as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, E-Authentication and the Public Key Infrastructure, into a single program.

In the fiscal 2010 budget request to Congress, the White House writes, "One of the major outcomes of this effort is to allow agencies to create and maintain information systems that deliver more convenience, appropriate security and privacy protection, with less effort and at a lower cost."

"This priority moves beyond terrorism related issues to the sharing of information more broadly to enhance the national security of the United States and the safety of the American people," Brennan writes.

The White House's decision to hire Resnick and create the new interagency committee drew a lot of interest from lawmakers Thursday.

Member of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment wanted to hear from the witnesses, including Ambassador Thomas McNamara, the outgoing program manager of the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE), and Jeffrey Smith, a member of the Markle Foundation, about the administration's progress so far, and what, if any, changes need to be made.

Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), the subcommittee's ranking member, asked McNamara how the new position would mesh with the PM-ISE.

McNamara, whose last day is July 31, deferred most of the direct questions about the administration's focus on information sharing so far. But he did detail several ways Congress or the White House could give the PM-ISE more authority and clout.

McNamara says the PM-ISE needs to be a presidentially appointed position, a senior official who understands how the interagency process works and should be the chairman of the White House information sharing committee. He also says the program manager needs a stronger policy making role.

But most importantly, he says the program manager must have budget authority over all information sharing programs.

"The program manager is less manager of the ISE and more of the negotiator or the compromiser to produce the ISE," he says. "We do get insight from OMB into the budget, but it's a partial look at the partial numbers of agencies."

Smith says the PM-ISE should not only be presidentially appointed, but Senate confirmed.

"I think it's a good idea for the PM-ISE to be chairman of the information sharing council and they should be in the White House," he says. "They would have a lot of horsepower and speak for the President."

Smith adds that the PM-ISE often and incorrectly is seen as an adjunct of the intelligence agencies, and by putting the person in the White House, that would change.

McCaul promised to look at the statutory provisions and consider ways to strengthen the PM-ISE's role.

Along with the role and placement of the program manager, McNamara says privacy and civil liberties need more attention. He says the Congress and the administration should beef up agency privacy offices and more quickly establish the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board.

The Bush administration created the board, but it dissolved quickly after the administration and Congress disagreed over nominees.

"I see an enormous worth of the board," McNamara says. "It would have been easier and more credible if I submit policies to the board and they give me their approval before releasing the policies."

Smith echoed McNamara's comments saying, "It is critical that the President promptly name and the Senate confirm the member."

McNamara also highlighted the ISE's successes.

"We have made a radical change in government in terms of information management," he says. "And the culture is changing--slowly."

He says the ISE has rationalized, simplified and harmonized standards, processes and technology across the agencies that deal with terrorism data.

He points to the Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) standard, the privacy guidelines issued and the information sharing architecture many have adopted as examples of the ISE's success.

"We see the contribution of the information sharing environment in different parts of government from the FAA modernization to health IT to the maritime and air domain awareness efforts," McNamara says.

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On the Web:

FederalNewsRadio - Strengthening Information Sharing and Access (White House memo)

FederalNewsRadio - McNamara to leave role as head of information sharing

Information Sharing Environment - ise.gov

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