Role of Information Management in Advancing Homeland Security

摘要

More than 50,000 malicious codes, including viruses and software, are developed each day to target the United States. Russia, China, and Iran are actively developing capabilities to attack the information infrastructure of this country. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies of the U.S. government do not have a comprehensive plan to address these threats. Decision makers at all levels of government lack timely information to formulate workable courses of action. They also have increasingly less time to make choices that might significantly impact future generations. And they cannot work in isolation. To make decisions more effectively and efficiently, American policy makers must embrace information sharing in a collaborative learning context. In this complex realm of persistent threats and constricted decision cycles, information management is king. For decades, homeland security decision makers have struggled with information management. It is difficult to gather, organize, and share data with the right people especially when time is limited. Archives, more than just a collection of dusty books, can assist decision makers by carrying out these functions of information management. For this article, information management is the process to collect, store, and disseminate significant information across all levels of government. Decisions based upon outdated or inaccurate data can be deadly. Security of the homeland suffers when government mishandles this information.