Cooper solicits fed and state cross-agency pilots

White House officials want state officials, including chief information officers, to propose for federal funding information technology projects that would ease vertical integration in key homeland security areas.The projects would advance integration in areas related to criminal justice, first response, public safety, public health and private-sector corporate security, said Steve Cooper, CIO of the Office of Homeland Security, to state CIOs at their annual meeting in St. Louis Oct. 28.Cooper said the projects must meet the following criteria:*Take three to six months to complete;*Cost $1 million or less;*Have immediate benefit to the entities involved;*Achieve specific cross-organizational integration.The Office of Homeland Security would seek funding for any proposed projects that fit these guidelines, Cooper said. The projects likely would receive funding in fiscal 2004, he said.The purpose of the projects would be to provide seed money for larger projects the states could continue or expand on with their own funds.The Office of Homeland Security already has received several proposals, Cooper said. For example, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement offered a plan to integrate federal intelligence assets with state and local law enforcement in the southeast region."This isn't a competitive type of situation where we're trying to eliminate proposals," Cooper said. "Every proposal we receive, we will work with to make sure it meets with all of the criteria we are using to move it forward."