3.3: Collaboration Channels
[Pursue] community outreach, inter-and intragovernmental outreach, innovations in technology, and incentives used to encourage
the valuable relationships and collaborations championed by the Department
Other Information:
Homeland security encompasses a wide range of responsibilities and challenges at every level of government and the private
sector—from classroom emergency preparedness to securing the national cyber networks. Collaboration is essential to the Department’s
effort to collect and disseminate timely and accurate information about any number of threats. Conduits for collaboration
include community outreach, inter-and intragovernmental outreach, innovations in technology, and incentives used to encourage
the valuable relationships and collaborations championed by the Department. 3.3.1 Pro-Active Community Outreach to Improve
Collaboration Private Sector Office - The private sector and DHS are inextricably linked and the Private Sector Office is
the door for partnerships that cultivate robust public interactions and collaborations with diverse stakeholders and stakeholder
groups. As primary advisor to the Secretary on issues related to the private sector, including academia, non-profits, nongovernmental
organizations, and businesses, the Private Sector Office coordinates active engagement between DHS and the private sector
to build strong partnerships, shape policy, and enhance internal and external dialog. Citizen Corps - Citizen Corps is FEMA's
grassroots effort to bring together government and community leaders to involve citizens in emergency preparedness and resilience.
Citizen Corps challenges volunteers to embrace the personal responsibility to be prepared; to get training in first aid and
emergency skills; and to volunteer to support local emergency response, disaster relief, and community safety. There are currently
2,435 Citizen Corps Councils, which serve 227,692,084 people or 80% of the total U.S. population. Center for Faith-Based &
Community Initiatives - The DHS Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives partners with nonprofits across the nation
to create opportunities for inter-faith engagement, dialogue and cooperation. Certain that all homeland security activities
are built upon a foundation of involved citizens engaged in their daily activities of society, the Center for Faith-Based
& Community Initiatives serves as an access point for the networks within communities of faith seeking guidance and support
for the shared responsibility of security and resilience. Office of Civil Right and Civil Liberties - The Office for Civil
Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) conducts regular outreach and engagement efforts with stakeholders across the nation and
coordinates an intradepartmental Community Outreach and Relations Working Group. CRCL’s Engagement Team holds regularly scheduled
roundtables in eight cities across the country with American Arab, Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, Middle Eastern and Somali communities.
CRCL’s engagement is part of a broad effort to ensure that communities receive reliable information about policies and procedures
at DHS and have the opportunity to serve as active participants in the homeland security effort. 3.3.2 Intergovernmental Outreach
- Office of Intergovernmental Affairs - In 2010, the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) became part of the Office of
the Secretary and was charged with the task of coordinating outreach to intergovernmental stakeholders across the Department.
Facilitating timely and coordinated outreach across all DHS components will ensure a consistent, “One DHS” voice to State,
local, Tribal, and territorial stakeholders. Through its relationships and regular communication with these stakeholders,
IGA provides an avenue for the Department to effectively communicate with stakeholders during incidents or ongoing operations
as well as a means to gather and incorporate feedback into the DHS policy process. Office of Intelligence & Analysis - To
create a collaborative environment where information is effectively, efficiently, and responsibly shared by the DHS enterprise,
the Information Sharing and Collaboration (IS&C) Branch of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) facilitates effective
and efficient information sharing between DHS components; other government agencies; State, local, and Tribal stakeholders;
private sector partners; and international entities. The IS&C Branch is the catalyst for information sharing activities for
DHS and its stakeholders by collaboratively cultivating relationships and partnerships; identifying opportunities; facilitating
activities that are based on the opportunities; and managing the information sharing governance structure. Fusion centers
represent another successful collaborative effort between DHS and its partners. Fusion centers are run by the states and cities
in which they reside as an integral part of local and regional efforts to prevent crime and terrorist acts in their communities.
I&A provides personnel with operational and intelligence skills to fusion centers. These people help fusion centers manage
and protect the flow of classified and unclassified information, coordinate with local law enforcement and other agencies,
and provide local awareness and access to necessary information. These I&A analyst are trained in privacy, civil rights, and
civil liberties issues by the DHS Privacy Office and Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. To develop and further its
role departmentally, I&A has begun a study—at the direction of the Secretary—to determine the requirements for enhancing the
Department’s State and Local Fusion Center program to enable all the Department’s support to fusion centers nationwide to
be managed through a centralized Executive Agent. 3.3.3 FEMA Federal Preparedness Task Force - FEMA’s National Preparedness
Directorate is working to establish the State, local, Tribal, and Federal Preparedness Task Force. The 2010 Appropriations
legislation directs FEMA, in cooperation with the IGA, to establish a preparedness task force that is “charged with making
recommendations for all levels of government regarding: disaster and emergency guidance and policy; Federal grants; and Federal
requirements, including measuring efforts. The task force shall evaluate: which policies and guidance need updating, and the
most appropriate process by which to update them; which grant programs work the most efficiently and where programs can be
improved; and the most appropriate way to collectively assess our capabilities and our capability gaps.” 3.3.4 Homeland Security
Information Network - The Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) is a comprehensive, nationally secure web-based platform
able to facilitate information sharing and collaboration between Federal, State, local, Tribal, private sector, and international
partners. The HSIN platform exists to interface with existing information sharing networks to support the diverse Communities
of Interest (COI) engaged in preventing, protecting from, responding to, and recovering from all threats, hazards and incidents
under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security. HSIN, which is available to all State and local fusion centers
and emergency operations centers, focuses on enhancing collaboration rather than duplicating the capabilities. As a result
of its unique perspective, HSIN facilitates collaboration between mission areas such as law enforcement, emergency management,
and critical sectors. The DHS intelligence enterprise information management team has installed more than 30 SECRET-level
Homeland Secure Data Network (HSDN) terminals and will install HSDN terminals in all fusion centers pending security requirements.
In addition, the Department has recently created a HSIN Outreach Team to promote the understanding of HSIN and facilitate
its wide adoption. Its major goals are to: * Improve national awareness of HSIN’s mission, capabilities, roles, and accomplishments
* Establish HSIN as a core component of DHS’s missions with its partners * Increase collaboration and communication within
and among DHS components To achieve these goals, the HSIN Outreach Team: * Markets HSIN to DHS components and partners to
create new communities of interest * Supports its partners to achieve success in training events and exercises in real time
* Promotes HSIN at a wide variety of mission-oriented conferences to identify new partners and encourage information sharing
across both mission areas and geographic regions * Conducts training on HSIN functionality to improve the skills of new and
established members 3.3.5 Intradepartmental Collaboration Tools - IdeaFactory - IdeaFactory is a participatory, collaborative
and transparent website that allows TSA employees to develop, promote, and improve innovations and ideas for programs, processes,
and technologies and share them directly, without filter, to the entire TSA community. Employees post ideas, and rate and
comment on those that interest them. They participate in two-way communication with agency leadership, TSA program offices,
and each other. The IdeaFactory team reads every idea and evaluates those that are popular or that fit especially well with
specific strategic agency goals. Senior leadership and program managers communicate by debunking myths and responding to ideas
with specific explanations and details. They also implement ideas as new programs or initiatives within TSA. DHS plans to
expand the IdeaFactory department-wide to foster collaboration among DHS employees in 2010. This will afford all employees
the opportunity to suggest and vote on submitted ideas to improve operational efficiencies. Customer Management Tool - The
Office of the White House Liaison and the Office of Policy, in coordination with the IGA, have developed and are currently
deploying a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. The CRM has an approved Privacy Impact Assessment and is a data management
tool employed to manage stakeholder engagement with the Department. The tool functions as a database, managing information
on external stakeholders and tracking interactions to increase opportunities for collaboration. DHS Connect - The Department-wide
utilization DHSConnect, a Web-based collaboration tool, boasts a uniform Internet landing page for all DHS employees. This
provides unprecedented collaboration and an element of focus not permitted by multiple standalone sites with varying services
and accessibility. This ‘single intranet’ will also include a forum for collaboration that allows employees to set up team
sites for functional areas where coordination and information sharing is essential. Improving Department-wide communication,
workflow and coordinating processes, document management, content search and group collaboration to support the development
of a culture will help unify the Department and strengthen the resolve of the workforce. 3.3.6 Prizes, Challenges, and Incentives
to Increase Collaboration - The Department will follow the OMB guidance on prizes, challenges, and incentives to increase
collaboration. To that end, Secretary Napolitano recently announced the National Cyber-security Awareness Campaign Challenge
competition to solicit ideas from industry and individuals alike on how best the Department can clearly and comprehensively
discuss cyber-security with the American public. In addition, the Department will increase utilization of the DHS Outstanding
Partnership Award. This award may be presented by the Secretary of Homeland Security for outstanding contributions in partnership
with DHS to strengthen homeland security. This award recognizes State, local or Tribal organizations, private sector businesses
or nongovernmental organizations, and public-private partnerships that demonstrate exemplary support of DHS and its common
missions. 3.3.7 Paperwork Reduction Act Congress passed the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to improve the quality and practical
utility of information required by the Federal Government. The goal of the PRA is to reduce the information collection burdens
on the public, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the PRA and to improve the integrity, quality, and utility of
information to all users within and outside the Federal Government. The Office of the Chief Information Officer provides a
full range of services to program offices and program managers related to the PRA.
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