Data Sharing Key to Homeland Security Efforts

"It is a fact that the more moving parts you have, the more likely you will have a security hole," said

Jeff Gallimore, a principal at Excella Consulting, a McLean, Va.-based solution provider. "I would much rather have one system I have to manage than 10."

Gallimore referred to criticism leveled at federal agencies including the FBI and the National Security Agency, which since last year's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington have come under fire for not anticipating the hijackers' devastating plans.

Government observers now say that federal agencies are urgently reviewing data-sharing processes and are committed to improving inter-

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agency communications.

Gallimore said he is working with executives from SeeBeyond, a Redwood Shores, Calif., EAI vendor, to craft a strategy in sync with the Federal Enterprise Architecture. An initiative from the White House's Office of Management and Budget, the Federal Enterprise Architecture is a plan to develop consistent ways of sharing information among agencies and eliminating data redundancies.

That's the promise of EAI, Gallimore said.

Silos of data "need to be tied together somehow," he said. "I can define a business process generally that most [federal agencies support, like human resources management or procurement. Why do these processes have to be stovepiped? The bulk of the functionality is not unique to any particular agency," he said. However, he added, the data stored in one of these applications will be unique to the department.

Debate over the parameters of the proposed Department of Homeland Security,which would encompass 20-plus agencies and departments,continues. In the meantime, SeeBeyond, webMethods and other EAI vendors with a federal presence want solution providers to know that their offerings can further the goals of interagency data sharing that presumably would have to take place if intelligence, defense and civilian agencies are to thwart other

terrorist attacks. WebMethods has more than 300 people in its public-sector group attempting to spread that message, said Don Upson, senior vice president in charge of the unit.

Upson said data integration needs to be improved at the federal, local and state levels. Solution providers can aid in this effort, he noted.

"The rhetoric is you have to share information," Upson said. "But at what point in what database

can we share with other agencies' databases? My concern is that [Congressional funding for the proposed Department of Homeland Security will go to guns, guards and gates."

Yet unlike before Sept. 11, "government has an appreciation of its interdependencies and a willingness to share," said Upson, the former secretary of technology for the state of Virginia. "The truth is it does not know how."

Sam Maccherola, vice president of SeeBeyond's public-sector unit, is hopeful. Maccherola said that the vendor's Real-time Information Network for Government, or RING, could allow the Department of Homeland Security to analyze where the information gaps or redundancies exist by sharing information among the member agencies.

Accenture, which registered $1.32 billion in sales to public-sector clients in 2001, is working with SeeBeyond's technology on an engagement at the Defense Logistics Agency. A piece of the application is live now, according to Kevin Laudano, a partner in Accenture's government operating group.

"We started with a cross-section of [the Defense Logistics Agency's movement of food, hardware and other supplies across their supply chain," Laudano said. "This is the planning and the procurement side, and it will integrate into [the Defense Logistics Agency's global transportation facilities."

Cross-agency integration will come, Laudano said, but "I don't think anybody has reached that plateau yet."

Accenture also has people trained in EAI technology from IBM, Tibco and Vitria.

A Vitria spokesperson said the company is not concentrating its efforts on penetrating the federal market but is focused more on commercial clients.

Elizabeth Montalbano contributed to this story.