DHS Reorienting Around Resilience
DHS Reorienting Around Resilience
Since 9/11, DHS has concentrated on protecting critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) from disasters, while experts have been calling for an increased focus on resiliency, which takes a more comprehensive view of homeland security. Notably, Dr. James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation spoke to this issue at a congressional hearing on resilience in the homeland in 2008. He said, “The current paradigm of ‘protecting’ infrastructure is unrealistic. We should shift our focus to that of resiliency. Resiliency is the capacity to maintain continuity of activities even in the face of threats, disaster, and adversity.”
In a recent article in Government Computer News, the GAO noted an increased focus on resiliency in the latest edition of the NIPP, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. The NIPP was written by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2006 to unify CI/KR protection across the country. In the past, DHS has not placed a particular emphasis on resilience; however, they appear to be focusing on it more in their planning documents. For example, resilience is listed as one of the five homeland security missions in the recently published Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, which defines it as “fostering individual, community, and system robustness, adaptability, and capacity for rapid recovery.” Additionally, the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), a presidential advisory commission, is beginning two major studies on issues surrounding resilience. The first study is to examine ways to better share information between local first responders and the federal government, while the second study focuses on the role played by the emergency services sector in the NIPP, and the meaning of resiliency to that sector. A policy paper from the Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) highlights the NIAC shift in focus from protection to resilience in the NIPP.
Perhaps the way forward has already been charted – public private partnerships. Wal-Mart’s resilience and continuity efforts provide a possible model for the nation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Wal-Mart was able to reopen 114 of its 170 stores in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi within 48 hours. Wal-Mart manages an Emergency Operations Center at its home base in Arkansas that deals with logistics, coordination, and transportation. The Center partners with DHS and FEMA, as well as state emergency management agencies in the event of disasters. Wal-Mart is an outstanding example of what could be; the company works with the local communities to learn the needs of each community, stores necessary supplies in case of a disaster, and is able to respond in a well-organized, effective manner. Similar programs between DHS and the private sector could serve to increase the resilience of the nation to respond to future disasters.
