Utah is a strong contender to be part of a national pilot project linking as many as eight states to integrate communications, law enforcement and health services for homeland security." The announcement was one of a series of initiatives announced by the National Governors' Association today at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Governor Leavitt is co-chair of the NGA's task force on homeland security.
"Since 9/11 states, all levels of government, and the private sector have sprung into action. But no matter how well intentioned or how well funded these efforts are it won't make much of a difference if they're not all connected and communicating," said Gov. Leavitt, who is a member of President's Bush's Homeland Security Advisory Council. "The place for that to happen is at the state level and NGA's new initiative will help us immensely in this endeavor."
The task force will also look at ways to strengthen drivers license standards and authority. The National Governors Association's (NGA) Center for Best Practices also released its "Governor's Guide to Emergency Management Volume Two: Homeland Security" today. Members of the State Homeland Security Enterprise IT project team should review this document. The cabinet approved action yesterday for the team to proceed with a more in depth scoping development of the project.
The National Cybersecurity Strategy (the alternate URL is http://www.securecyberspace.gov/ ) was released yesterday, but I haven't had time to read it yet. And it has had plenty of coverage elsewhere, including the San Francisco Examiner and the Washington Post.
