While these initiatives provide a starting point for improved information sharing, their effective and timely implementation is not assured. A commitment to achieve these objectives must be emphasized. Implementation will require integration, coordination, and collaboration between organizations both within and outside the federal government. Further, the initiatives tend to rely on the creation of DHS for their complete implementation, a department that will require a considerable transition period to reach full potential. Improvements in efficiency and effectiveness are expected in the long term, but there will be additional costs and challenges, as the new department faces tremendous communications, human capital, information technology, and other integration, challenges."

Moreover, it is also important to note that the national strategy for homeland security is one of several national strategies that address general and specific security and terrorism related issues. In addition to the homeland security strategy, the Administration recently released a national security strategy. The Administration has stated that the national security strategy could, in conjunction with the homeland security strategy, be viewed as an overarching framework. There are also requirements for several other strategies that cover specific aspects of national and homeland security. These include the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction, National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, National Money Laundering Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and National Drug Control Strategy. These strategies reflect important elements supporting national and homeland security.

In is important that clear linkages be established among the various strategies to ensure common purpose within an overarching framework in order to clearly define specific roles, responsibilities, and resource priorities. An overarching, integrated framework can help to sort out issues of potential duplication, overlap, and conflict – not only for the federal government, but for all key stakeholders. While the individual plans will articulate roles and responsibilities, as well as set goals, objectives and priorities for their areas, effective integration is necessary to ensure that initiatives are undertaken that complement, not conflict with, each other.

BUS. General Accounting Office, Homeland Security. Proposal for Cabinet Agency Has Merit, But Implementation Will be Pivotal to Success, GAO-02-886T (Washington, D.C.: June 26, 2002).

Further, integration would allow for the better utilization of resources. Given the many challenges we face, we do not have the resources do everything and must make some hard choices.

Finally, a comprehensive, integrated strategic framework requires a review of the policies and processes that currently guide sharing, analysis, integration, and dissemination of intelligence and other critical information to homeland security stakeholders. Indeed, the policy structure currently in place is principally the product of a Cold War environment, in which threats to the United States occurred mainly on foreign soil. New and emerging threats clearly demonstrate that terrorist acts can - and will -impact America at home. The changing nature of the threats present an opportunity for the homeland security community to revisit the legal and policy structure to ensure that it effectively creates an environment for the type of broad-based information sharing needed to protect America at home. It is not just the intelligence community, or the federal government, that have roles, as well as needs, in this evolving environment. Information can be collected by many sources and analyzed to identify potential threats. This information must be disseminated to all relevant parties whether it is to a federal agency or another level of government. The volume and sources of threats, as your committees have reported, present new and serious challenges to our ability to analyze and integrate information into meaningful threat assessments. Not least, this will require attention to government's capacity to handle the increased volume of information.

Our policy structures need to adapt to these challenges. In fact, the government has recently implemented several measures that promote the sharing of information between all levels of government. For example, the USA Patriot Act provides for greater sharing of intelligence information among federal agencies. The FBI has also implemented several initiatives that would increase information sharing between all levels of government, including increasing the number of its Joint Terrorism Task Forces, to be located at each of its 56 field offices; and establishing the Terrorism Watch List to serve as its single, integrated list of individuals of investigative interest. The FBI plans to make the list accessible throughout the law enforcement and intelligence communities.

All of these are recent changes, of course, and will take time to fully implement. It will be important to assess how effective these and other changes are in promoting needed and appropriate information sharing. GAO stands ready to assist the Congress in these efforts.

Management Success
Factors

As the recent proposals to create DHS indicate, the terrorist events of last fall have provided an impetus for the government to look at the larger picture of how it provides homeland security and how it can best accomplish associated missions - both now and over the long term. This imperative is particularly clear for the homeland security community, where information sharing and collaboration issues remain a challenge. In this environment, there exists a very real need and possibly a unique opportunity to rethink approaches and priorities to enable the homeland security community to better target its resources to address the most urgent needs. In some cases, the new emphasis on homeland security has prompted attention to long-standing problems that have suddenly become more pressing. In other cases, it will be equally important for organizations to focus on the fundamental building blocks necessary for effective public sector performance and accountability - foundations that readily apply to the homeland security community.

In recent months, we have testified about the long-term implementation challenges that the homeland security community faces - not only in ensuring an effective transition to a consolidated DHS, but in strengthening the relationships among and between all stakeholders to facilitate transformational change that can be sustained in years to come. There are many tools that organizations involved in homeland security might consider to drive necessary changes for better collaboration and integration of information sharing activities. One such tool is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) concept. Strategic positioning of COOs can provide a central point to elevate attention on management issues and transformational change, to integrate various key management functions and responsibilities, and to institutionalize accountability for management issues and leading change.

Despite some assertions to the contrary, there is no meaningful distinction between the intelligence community, other homeland security organizations, or even other public sector agencies when it comes to creating an environment where strong leadership and accountability for results drives a transformational culture. Over the years, GAO has made observations and recommendations about many success factors required for public sector effectiveness, based on effective management of people, technology, financial, and other issues, especially in its biannual Performance and Accountability Series on major government departments." These factors include the following:

• Strategic Planning: Leading results-oriented organizations focus on the process of strategic planning that includes involvement of stakeholders, assessment of internal and external environments, and an alignment of activities, core processes and resources to support mission-related outcomes.

• Organizational Alignment: Operations should be aligned in a way that provides for effective sharing of information, consistent with the goals and objectives established in the national homeland security strategy.

• Communication: Effective communication strategies are key to any major transformation effort and help to instill an organizational culture that lends itself to effective sharing of information.

• Building Partnerships: A key challenge is the development and maintenance of homeland security partners at all levels of the government and the private sector, both in the United States and

overseas.

• Performance Management: An effective performance management system fosters institutional, unit, and individual accountability.

• Human Capital Strategy: As with other parts of the government, homeland security agencies must ensure that their homeland security missions are not adversely impacted by the government's pending human capital crisis, and that they can recruit, retain, and reward a

U.S. General Accounting Office. Major Management Challenges and Program Risks: A Governmentwide Perspective, GAO-01 241 (Washington, D.C.: January 2001).