Private Sector Homeland Security
News Update: October 19, 2004
In This Issue
Privatizing Intelligence Operations?
Homeland
Security Reaches $32B In 2005
Infrastructure Protection Still 2-3 Years Away - Private Sector Remains Critical
Challenge
Companies To Watch: Identix
DHS eyes outsourcing intelligence.
The Homeland Security Department might seek a private vendor to provide
intelligence research and operations specialists for its Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agency.
ICE has issued a presolicitation notice that it may run a competition for
intelligence research specialists and intelligence operations specialists under
the Office of Management and Budget’s Circular A-76 process. OMB’s
Circular A-76 process lays out a method under which federal agencies are
required to seek outside bids for work that is not inherently governmental.
The presolicitation notice said ICE expects to issue a solicitation on or before
March 1, 2005. The agency expects to issue a firm fixed-price contract with task
orders issued as required."
The outsourcing proposal would cover about 84 jobs.
President Bush today signed a $32 billion,
fiscal 2005 Homeland Security appropriations bill. Overall, the approved funding
exceeds the administration’s request by $896 million and funding in 2004 by $2.8
billion."
The law includes a major increase in funding authority for the CIO’s Office,
which will receive $275.3 million for the coming year rather than the
appropriation of about $65 million it received last year. More than $200 million
of the increase represents funding formerly devoted to cross-departmental
projects.
Other major IT projects approved include:
* $3.98 billion for first-responder grants for state and local governments, some
of which will go to IT projects
* $449 million for systems modernization at the Customs and Border Protection
agency
* $340 million for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology
program
* $140.8 million for national security and emergency preparedness
telecommunications
* $106.6 million for critical infrastructure outreach and data sharing
efforts
* $67.8 million for cybersecurity projects in the Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection Directorate
* $18 million for research on cyberthreats by the Science and Technology
Directorate.
Homeland Security identifies potential
infrastructure
targets.
Source: GovExec.com
Robert Liscouski, DHS (Department of Homeland
Security) assistant secretary for infrastructure
protection, speaking at a meeting of the
Infrastructure Security Partnership, announced the DHS
has developed a framework for identifying
vulnerabilities in critical infrastructures and that
full implementation of a national infrastructure
protection plan is two to three years away. One of the challenges to such a plan is
the fact that most
infrastructures are owned by the private sector.
Private companies have to absorb the costs of a
protection plan and pass them on to consumers.
The federal government also plans to foster
best practices
through tax, insurance, and market incentives. 30,000
potential terrorist targets have been compiled into a
National Asset Database, with cyber, physical, and
human components; the cyber component is likely to
remain vulnerable according to Mr. Liscouski. The
first draft of a national protection plan is expected
by the end of 2004, while specific sectors, such as
Energy and Defense, will develop their own plans.
Identix supplies 70% of the US live scan market and a growing share of
international demand.
The two largest deployments of live scan systems in the world today employ
Identix live scan systems: Department of Homeland Security, 850+ systems, and
the California Department of Justice, 700+ systems.
Identix has issued more than 100 million BioEngine® fingerprint templates
around the world for various large-scale identification programs.
Identix FaceIt technology has been deployed by dozens of agencies around the
world for voter registration, national ID programs, drivers’ license
registration, mug shot booking, network security, time and attendance and access
control. Most recently, Identix has incorporated skin biometrics into its FaceIt®
facial recognition algorithm, delivering a quantum leap in performance.
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