DHS to improve collaboration

The Homeland Security Department is considering a competition within the next six months to refresh its intranet and extranet collaboration portals.

The current portal software, based on the Army Knowledge Online software developed by Appian Corp., Vienna, Va., was set up in three weeks in 2002 for the new department, and "we're looking to build on that," said Lee Holcomb, DHS chief technology officer.

The DHSInfo Online intranet portal at any given time serves about 60,000 of DHS' 180,000 employees, he estimated. Extranet users enter with a password and Secure Sockets Layer encryption. The two portals provide all DHS regulations, documents and collaboration zones for workgroups.