State center slow going

The plan for a national information sharing and analysis center to support cybersecurity at the state government level has not yet materialized, despite hopes that it would be ready soon.

Rock Regan, president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers and the Connecticut CIO, said in late May that the group remains determined to establish such a center and may issue a request for proposal soon.

Chris Dixon, NASCIO's digital government coordinator, said the principal matters to be addressed before the project can move forward concern funding and whether information provided by the states to the federal government would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Dixon said the organization is confident it can secure adequate funding, but the funds might need to come from multiple sources, depending on the amount required.

An information sharing and analysis center would record and report security breaches across state IT enterprises, provide early warnings to other states of network breaches, offer patches to fix violated systems and act as a clearinghouse for sharing best practices among states.

NASCIO also is creating a working group to offer advice on framing a national homeland security strategy. The group is being formed after a request from federal Homeland Security Office CIO Steve Cooper.