IBM proposes global security organization

Strategic thinkers in IBM Corp.'s public-sector unit are urging establishment of an organization dedicated to coordinating public and private efforts to secure people and infrastructures worldwide.

In a new white paper, the IBM authors call for government and corporate leaders to work jointly through a Global Movement Management Organization on security and resilience in global aviation, cargo movement, immigration, travel and the Internet, among other areas.

"We envision a new international entity to fill the governance gap that presently limits the effectiveness of international efforts," the paper states. "The Global Movement Management Organization can serve to bring together key stakeholders with a shared interest in strengthening global movement systems and provide an effective forum and process to enable cooperation among regional, national and sector-specific stakeholders."

The white paper, titled "Global Movement Management: Commerce, Security and Resilience in Today's Networked World," builds on ideas IBM introduced in 2005. Both papers address vulnerabilities to asymmetric terrorist threats that could disrupt global supply chains and commercial and noncommercial human activities.

The goal is to improve security and resilience by confronting emerging risks without harming commercial interests, said W. Scott Gould, one of the paper's authors and vice president of public-sector strategy at IBM Global Business Services, in a news release.

The paper focuses on resilience, strategic human capital and using technology to capitalize on data and skills while preserving privacy.

To improve information sharing, for example, the report suggests that tools be made more broadly available and affordable to allow for data harmonization and interoperability; encryption; and data aggregation, analysis and visualization.

The other authors are Daniel Prieto, vice president for homeland security, and Jonah Czerwinski, managing consultant for homeland security at IBM Global Business Services.