BOND: DHS-COMMERCE DEAL PLANNED ON TECH COLLABORATION

“In the coming weeks we will announce a memorandum of understanding between TA and the Department of Homeland Security [that] establishes TA as a key interface between the private sector and government -- helping DHS identify the advanced technologies that will be needed to protect our homeland [and providing] greater collaboration between the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which TA oversees, and Homeland Security,” said Phillip Bond, Commerce undersecy.-technology, in a speech prepared for a General Services Administration/TechNet federal IT procurement forum here. He omitted those comments when he gave the speech but a spokeswoman confirmed the plan.

Coordination, he said, would include: (1) Exchange of scientific information and publications on measurement science, standards, technology and similar topics. (2) “Facilitat[ing] and enhanc[ing]” the agencies’ financial assistance programs. (3) Personnel exchanges. (4) Joint publicity on “mutually reinforcing activities. (5) Program planning and R&D review mutual assistance.

Bond also tried to disabuse would-be vendors of a mythical downside to govt. contracting. “I have heard rumors -- and they are just that -- that some companies are afraid to sell to the government because if they do their product will be placed on the [State Dept.] munitions list and they will be banned from exporting a product,” he said. “This absolutely not true… The items on this list are those specifically designed for military use without -- I emphasize without -- significant commercial applications. If a product is manufactured for commercial use, there would be no grounds for concern… Separately, the Administration is reviewing the current munitions list to determine whether certain items should be removed and put on the Commerce Control List.”

DHS’ Chief Information Officer Steve Cooper said his dept. had more networks than it could count, and he had more priorities than he could keep track of. An audit about 60% complete already has uncovered more than 80,000 technology components such as applications and databases, he said.

“Information and cybersecurity is way up at the top of the list” of priorities for DHS and other agencies, he said. In roughly declining order, he named: (1) Wireless technology, especially to enable interoperability among first responders. (2) Geospatial products and services. (3) Modeling and simulation tools. (4) Satellite and other telecommunications. (5) Collaboration tools. (6) E- learning. (7) Information analysis tools, such as visualization and data-mining software. (8) Portfolio management, to “evaluate legacy stuff.” (9) Capital planning and investment tools. (10) Enterprise architecture. (11) Enterprise integration. (12) Alert and warning software. (13) Data center consolidation. (14) Performance measurement. (15) Identification technologies. (16) Enterprise resource planning.

The dept. has a previously unpublicized Web site, vendors.dhs.gov, designed to help vendors inform DHS of their offerings, Cooper said. He advised against general pitches of latest-and-greatest technology. “The more that you can put your product and service in a business context that is relevant to us, the faster we can help each other,” Cooper said. “If you trigger something, we're going to respond right away.”

Also coming -- within a month and as soon as this week - - is a new process for putting up for competition, between govt. contractors and public incumbents, work of a commercial nature done by 850,000 federal employees, Office of Management Assoc. Administrator John Kalavritinos said. The goal is reforming the current “somewhat monster of a process” that is “very complicated, very unfair” and can take up to 4 years, he said. The new process aims to be “more fair and better,” with a standard 12-month timeline, Kalavritinos said. He acknowledged “some may not see it as [as] simple as others.”