Homeland Security Case Study

MIS
Case Study: Ch. 7

Database Woes Plague Homeland Security and Law Enforcement

1. It is important to connect as much of the data in many of the federal, state, and local information systems because it will help stop future attacks and events to happen to the United States. After September 11, the federal government created a new cabinet called the homeland security. The cabinet has a database of thousands of federal, state and local organizations. They collect as much of the information necessary to combat future terrorist attacks as well as fight domestic crime. Bringing together this information to make them useful for fighting terrorism and crime is provided to be an immense task. Ben Gianni, the vice president of the homeland
security of computer sciences corporation, says, "We must do this in order for these agencies to collect, analyze and disseminate information about suspected terrorist activities."

2.
Bringing data together from all different organizations is a major data management problem.
One of the most important pieces of data is to tack terrorist activity through these three organizations, the Immigration Naturalization Service (INS), Customs, and the Coast Guard. All three collect and store data on people and products that enter the United States. Bringing some of those data together would be useful for defending the country. However, these organizations have many databases, most of which are old and have been created independently. They have different computing platforms, data names, data definitions, data sizes, and data files. This is a problem that many global corporations have been addressing for years. Many are managing to interconnect their multitude of data systems, but it has been both time consuming and very costly. The FBI culture has been a mind-set to keep information to itself, a problem highlighted by and after 9/11. New York's senator Charles Schumer said, "One of the worst kept secrets in law enforcement is the chronic lack of communications between federal and local
authorities."
Some basic problems are first the data are stored in many different databases even within single agencies. Since the past, software systems within the government and corporate organizations have been developed independently, servicing only specific unit's needs. The databases in such independently developed systems that are usually

incompatible. Also the same data in different systems, even within the same organization, usually have different codes, names, and formats.
Next problem is who is allowed to see what data and who is restricted from seeing the data? What data are classified or non-classified and if they are classified what levels of classification? These are all questions that need to be answered in order to keep the information secret and protected. Also agents required security clearances to access much of the data, but the security clearance often took up to eight months to obtain.
The FBI is buried under an immense amount of paperwork and continues to use paperwork as its chief information management tool. Robert Mueller, the FBI director, says, "It is no secret that our information infrastructure is behind current technology." The FBI can search in there computer database words such as flight and school but they cannot search for phrases such as flight school, combining the two words, so this process takes more time and work to search for important information fast and to track and stop potential terrorist and their activities.

3. The management, organization, and technology issues all need to be addressed to make these data easily available to those who need it. First the management issue with the paperwork as the chief information tool. This needs to be changed something more modern such as in a computer database. Also the management must see set up and see who is classified to view and obtain which information a lot faster then eight months because it might and will be too late. The organization issues are the mind-set that to keep information to itself. This needs to be changed fast because we are all on the same side and should help and give information to each other without any questions or complaints in order help each other and get the information to stop and find terrorists and their activities. And the technology issue that needs to be addressed is first the federal government and local enforcement need to get modern and current technology hardware in order to get more information and fast. Second is the data codes, names and formats must be changed and altered into a universal code, name and format so it is easier and faster to get the necessary information to those who need to so that there will never be another 9/11 again.

4. If I was a consultant to the federal government the three approaches I might recommend for making this massive amount of data easily, quickly available and when needed is by the first approach is to come up with a universal data code, name and format that are compatible with every system into a universal database.
This universal database will allow all local and federal government to get access and receive information about a person, place, or anything. This database will have levels of classification and protection with ID numbers and thumb print analysis that are given to each individual to enter before getting access to the information. The second approach will be updating
all

technology in the local and federal government from the computers and database to the radios. The federal and local government should be using computers to type and receive information not typewriters and paperwork. The radios should be more modern and current then the issued ones from ten years ago. This will allow the federal and local government to work and receive information faster and clearer. The third approach is making a new branch of government that will set up the universal data code, names and formats. This branch of government will serve to the purpose of collecting data from federal and local government, coast guard, INS, customs, and all law enforcement organizations. The branch of government will then put this data into a database where the proper authorities can come to them and ask for the information that they need and will get a quick response and access to this data in matter of days not months.