Markle report: Tear down those silos!

Nearly 8 years after the 9/11 attacks, is the country safer than it was before? A new report suggests that despite new laws passed, billions of dollars spent, and new federal agencies created, the nation is still at risk. That's because federal agencies still are not sharing vital information the way that they should.

This report comes from the Markle Foundation, in New York, and specifically its task force on National Security in the Information Age. The Foundation was one of several private organizations which were invited to provide outside input into the 9/11 report, primarily because of the expertise they were able to draw upon.

Foundation president Zoe Baird, tells FederalNewsRadio their hope is to raise awareness with the administration over what still needs to be done to tear down information silos within the national security community.

We have focused on the ability of the government to share information, so that different communities of interest can understand what the threats are, and decision makers can make good policy. We feel it's very important for people to appreciate that the nation is still at risk from terrorism, that, for all the efforts we have made to prove our ability to understand the threats, we have a long way to go to know what information we have, and to make sure that the policymakers are guided by that, and share information when they have it.

Slade Gorton is a former Senator from Washington State, and a member of the Markle Task Force. I asked him to talk about the challenges for Congress and the legislative branch when it comes to promoting more instead of less information sharing in the Federal Government. He says that the House and Senate have done a generally good job of passing needed laws to beef up national security.

Now, it's a process of oversight. I think Congress shares with the President the necessity to keep after people to end their old ways of doing things, and share information with other people appropriately.

Bill Cowell is another member of the Markle task force. By day, he's an independent consultant focusing on information technology and director of a number of tech-based firms. He's also a former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency. And he told me that another key to better information sharing in the government is the right mix of technology and effective government policy.

The use of technology is so intertwined with the policies that need to be implemented, while at the same time, maintaining that "bright line" between what is authorized, and what is not.

Baird says so far, she is heartened by the reception she has gotten so far from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the head of the CIA, and other leaders in the in the Executive Branch to her task force's report.

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On the Web:
Markle Foundation - markle.org

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