Homeland Security flooded with antiterror tech plans

The Homeland Security Department has received more than 3,300 responses to last month's solicitation of a wide array of innovative counterterrorism technologies, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on Monday.

"There are several million dollars available to the private sector," Ridge said during the first meeting of the department's 18-member Homeland Security Advisory Council. "What we're looking for right now is some off-the-shelf technologies that we may use in a variety of different venues."

The department had set a June 13 deadline for one-page technology proposals, including for contamination detectors, data-management applications and satellite communications tools. Homeland security officials now are evaluating those proposals, according to Charles McQueary, the department's undersecretary for science and technology. McQueary said his division has received an additional 500-plus unsolicited proposals through e-mail.

In order to encourage private-sector innovation, Ridge said the department is planning to establish a "Homeland Security Department award" that would be similar to the Commerce Department's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

"I think it's very important for us to recognize the quality and the ingenuity in the private sector, as well as best practices," Ridge told the council. He added that the council will be charged with helping the department establish criteria for the award and a review process to select candidates.

Ridge said the council will take various other steps to help the department reach out to the private sector. He also asked for the council's help in developing a homeland security "lexicon" to ensure that all the federal, state, local and private-sector players are "singing off the same song sheet" when they discuss risk management, critical infrastructure and other complex topics.

"Interoperability isn't just communications and equipment," Ridge said. "Interoperability is making sure that everybody understands concepts and definitions, up and down the line."

William Webster, a former director of both the FBI and CIA, said one of the council's "most significant" tasks will be to help the department improve its ability to communicate with state and local government agencies and emergency "first responders."

"We have never ... in our federal system, really addressed that issue, and now we must," said Webster, who is vice chairman of the council.

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who now serves as director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said budget issues will be another key concern for the council. "Are we spending enough money to prepare fire, police, rescue and medical agencies to handle another catastrophic attack? I do not believe that we are," Hamilton said.

A Homeland Security Advisory Council member, he cited a recent estimate by a Council on Foreign Relations task force that the federal government plans to spend $27 billion on first responders over the next five years.

"After talking to a number of my former colleagues on the Hill, I think it's a safe bet that that figure will rise dramatically in the years ahead, and it probably should," Hamilton said.