Sniper case teaches lesson

September 11, 2003

	The Homeland Security Department should focus its IT architecture efforts on interoperability rather than technology, according to an industry trade group.

The Homeland Security Department should focus its IT architecture efforts on interoperability rather than technology, according to an industry trade group.

The homeland security task force of the Government Electronics and IT Association studied last year's investigation of the Washington-area sniper attacks for potential lessons in IT deployment during a crisis.

The GEIA task force found "a well-defined and executed relationship between the available information technology tools and law enforcement officers" in the sniper case. This was in large part because Montgomery County, Md., police shared its stockpile of wireless telephones with other agencies.

The report, online at http://www.

geia.org/pr/HomelandSecuityPaper7-03.pdf, also called for establishing a "virtual command post model" for secure interagency communications.

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&#009;The Homeland Security Department should focus its IT architecture efforts on interoperability rather than technology, according to an industry trade group.

The Homeland Security Department should focus its IT architecture efforts on interoperability rather than technology, according to an industry trade group.