White House to unveil first homeland security tech blueprint

The White House Office of Homeland Security will soon release the first in a series of conceptual plans for how information technology systems should fit together in the new Homeland Security Department, according to a White House official.

Lee Holcomb, the office's director of "infostructure," said Wednesday that in the next 90 days the administration would unveil an enterprise architecture plan for Homeland Security agencies with border control responsibilities. An enterprise architecture is a blueprint that shows how disparate technology devices should work together to serve an organization's overall mission.

Holcomb didn't elaborate on what the new plan would entail, but he said it was one of four designs that officials are working on now to help set up the new department. The other three cover components of the department's mission, including intelligence and warning, weapons of mass destruction countermeasures and coordination of "first responders," such as fire and emergency workers.

Holcomb said the border security architecture would be a guide for making decisions on how to invest funds for the backbone technologies of the new department. A team of chief information officers from the 22 agencies slated to move into the Homeland Security Department is currently reviewing several technology projects in the merging agencies to decide whether to terminate them or combine them with other programs. That group will use the architecture to inform their decision-making, Holcomb said.

In addition to the component architectures, administration officials are building a "technical reference model" that Holcomb said is intended to identify IT standards for the agencies. The model would note what brands of particular products agencies use. White House officials have said that if, for example, the majority of agencies use a particular company's e-mail product, that product would become the e-mail standard for the department. The reference model cuts across a variety of business areas, including human resources and financial management.

Holcomb said that the administration is in negotiations with some companies to secure departmentwide licensing agreements. He wouldn't reveal which companies they are, but he did say that officials are looking for the best deal they can get in all cases.

Holcomb added that some agencies' technology projects have been "paused" pending the establishment of the Homeland Security Department. He declined to name the projects.