[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66720-66721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24042]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[Docket No. DHS-2022-0050]
Homeland Security Advisory Council
AGENCY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), The Office of
Partnership and Engagement (OPE).
ACTION: Notice of new taskings for the Homeland Security Advisory
Council (HSAC).
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SUMMARY: On October 16, 2022 the Secretary of DHS, Alejandro N.
Mayorkas, tasked the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) to
establish four new subcommittees further outlined below. This notice is
not a solicitation for membership.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Sternhell, Executive Director
of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, Office of Partnership and
Engagement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security at [email protected] or
202-891-2876.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HSAC provides organizationally
independent, strategic, timely, specific, and actionable advice and
recommendations for the consideration of the Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security on matters related to homeland
security. The HSAC is comprised of leaders in local law enforcement,
first responders, public health, State, local and tribal government,
national policy, the private sector, and academia.
The four new subcommittees are as follows:
Subcommittee (1): DHS Leadership in Supply Chain Security
A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can
take a greater leadership role in supply chain security, including by
strengthening supply chain cybersecurity.
Subcommittee (2): DHS Intelligence and Information Sharing
A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can
improve upon its intelligence and information sharing with our key
federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector
partners. The subcommittee will assess whether the Department's
information sharing architecture developed by the DHS Office of
Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is adequate for the threats of today
and tomorrow, and provide advice and recommendations to better enable
the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) to rapidly and
efficiently share information and intelligence with our key partners.
Subcommittee (3): DHS Transparency and Open Government
A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can
improve its commitment to transparency and open government. The
subcommittee will provide advice and recommendations that will position
the Department as the leader in this critical area of model government
conduct.
Subcommittee (4): Homeland Security Technology and Innovation Network
A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can
create a more robust and efficient Homeland Security Technology and
Innovation Network. The subcommittee will provide advice and
recommendations that will develop the Department's innovation, research
and development, and technology network with the private sector.
Tasking (1): DHS Leadership in Supply Chain Security
The United States needs resilient, diverse, and secure supply
chains to ensure our economic prosperity and national security. DHS
continues to protect America's national and economic security by
facilitating legitimate trade and travel and rigorously enforcing U.S.
customs and immigration laws and regulations.
As the Department strives to stay ahead of the curve and take a
greater leadership role by harnessing new technologies, minimizing
environmental impact, and increasing partnerships in this vital area,
this HSAC subcommittee is tasked to provide recommendations on how the
Department can take a greater leadership role in supply chain security.
The subcommittee's assessment will include, but need not be limited to,
the following:
a. strengthening physical security;
b. strengthening cybersecurity; and,
c. increasing efficiencies to ensure a resilient, safe, and secure
supply chain for critical manufacturing and technology sectors.
Tasking (2): DHS Intelligence and Information Sharing
Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners convened
shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, creating a
domestic information sharing architecture to enable the timely and
seamless exchange of information to detect and eliminate terrorist
threats. In the 21 years since 9/11, our law enforcement and homeland
security community has made great progress in reshaping our information
sharing environment. Working together, we put policies and processes in
place that help us to be safer and more secure than we were years ago.
As the Department approaches its 20th Anniversary, the HSAC
subcommittee is asked to provide recommendations on:
1. How the Department can rapidly and efficiently share
intelligence and information with its federal, state, local, tribal,
territorial, and private sector partners. Have DHS investments in
information sharing technology and changes in law and policy resulted
in increased knowledge transfer and resilience? Are further investments
or changes in law or policy needed?
2. Has DHS created an information and intelligence sharing
architecture that efficiently spreads knowledge and rapidly shares
critical information? Are there steps that we need to take to
revitalize or improve this architecture?
3. Whether the current DHS information sharing architecture
optimizes information sharing for threats other than counterterrorism;
for example, cyber, border security, foreign influence/propaganda,
strategic advantage, and others.
4. Internal DHS Information Sharing: Has DHS fully implemented
internal DHS information sharing policy--for example, the One DHS
Memo--to leverage DHS data and information to support Departmental
missions like border security as well as to develop and share relevant,
quality intelligence with our partners?
Tasking (3): DHS Transparency and Open Government
DHS is committed to transparency and promoting the principles of an
Open Government. The United States has worked both domestically and
internationally to ensure global support for Open Government principles
to promote transparency, fight corruption, energize civic engagement,
and leverage new technologies in order to strengthen
[[Page 66721]]
the foundations of freedom in our own nation and abroad.
DHS has expanded transparency in concert with the development of
Open Government Plans, recognizing that increased access to research
data and information can encourage research collaboration and help
successfully address the nation's constantly evolving homeland security
challenges.
The HSAC subcommittee is asked to provide recommendations on:
1. How the Department and its components can expand on the
foundation set by previous Open Government Plans for DHS.
2. New initiatives to increase transparency and sustaining the DHS
mission to protect the homeland.
3. How DHS can be held accountable in meeting its commitment to be
a leader in modeling government openness and transparency.
Tasking (4): Homeland Security Technology and Innovation Network
DHS employs more than 240,000 individuals working in multiple
offices and components across the country and the world. While the
mission is uniform across the Department--to protect the homeland from
foreign and domestic threats--the tools necessary to accomplish this
can vary widely by office and can change in time. Moreover, while some
threats are known and have been core to the DHS mission since its
inception, we must remain ever vigilant and responsive to countering
both unknown and future threats. In this scenario we may face
accelerated timelines that do not fit into our normal acquisition life
cycle to acquire key technology to counter a threat. It is critical to
our nation's security to have a robust and efficient Homeland Security
Technology and Innovation Network that promotes an enhanced schedule of
development and deployment of critical technology and assets to protect
the homeland.
To maximize the opportunity afforded by partnership with the
private sector and the expertise within the Department, the HSAC
subcommittee is asked to assess the private sector experience,
specifically in the areas of technology development and innovation, and
provide recommendations on how the Department can create a more robust
and efficient Homeland Security Technology and Innovation Network. The
subcommittee's assessment will include, but need not be limited to, the
following:
a. an assessment of how the private sector engages with the current
Research and Development (R&D) and acquisition programs and
opportunities, including where those can be maximized or improved;
b. different means of increasing innovative technology partnerships
with the private sector;
c. recommendations on harmonizing existing innovation efforts
across the Department and its components to best leverage funding and
resources; and
d. identifying current barriers to developing a more robust
technology and innovation network, including legal, contracting, and
policy considerations.
Schedule: The four subcommittees' findings and recommendations will
be submitted to the HSAC for its deliberation and vote during a public
meeting. Once the recommendations from the four subcommittees are voted
on by the HSAC, they will be submitted to the Secretary. The four
subcommittees will submit their findings and recommendations to the
HSAC in March 2023.
Dated: October 26, 2022.
Rebecca K.K. Sternhell,
Executive Director, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Department of
Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2022-24042 Filed 11-3-22; 8:45 am]
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