OVERVIEW
The threats we face today require unprecedented speed in the way the government collects, shares, and acts on information. In fact, information has become the key to enhancing our nation's security. The events of September 11th starkly demonstrated the dangers associated with the failure to share information, not only within the federal government, but also between the federal government, on the one hand, and state and local governments and the private sector on the other. From the President to the police officer on the street, information tailored to facilitate decision-making and action at all levels is the nation's first line of defense. At the same time, today's deluge of information means that these new requirements must be developed in concert with a new framework of civil liberties protections. These are not competing interests to be traded off, but complementary goals to be developed through wise policy and new technology tools.
The Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age
The cornerstone of our program in national security has been The Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. From April 2002 through July 2006, the Task Force was comprised of a diverse and bipartisan group of experienced policymakers, senior executives from the information technology industry, public interest advocates, and experts in privacy, intelligence, and national security, was designed to inform the policy judgments and investments of the federal, state and local governments in the collection and use of information as it relates to national security. Its three reports have informed policy debate at the highest levels of government:
Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age, 2002
Creating a Trusted Information Network for Homeland Security, 2003
Mobilizing Information to Prevent Terrorism: Accelerating Development of a Trusted Information Sharing Environment, 2006
The Task Force was instrumental in developing and advancing policy changes that have been adopted by government, yet significant obstacles have yet to be overcome. The use of intelligence information remains dominated by a culture of classification and tight limitations on access, in which information was shared only on a "need to know" basis. Law enforcement, similarly, restricts access to information to protect the prosecution process and has failed to adapt to its intelligence role. Our nation continues to draw a bureaucratic line at the border, applying different rules to our government's activities offshore from those we applied at home. These habits and structures of the past are failing to meet today's security demands and cannot cope with ever increasing demands for making sense of the growing torrent of information that must be dealt with. It is imperative that we move forward to an approach that takes advantage of the best this country can offer by integrating people, processes and technology in crafting policies to secure ourselves in a changing world. The Markle Foundation's program in national security seeks to address these pressing challenges and assist in securing our nation's future.
More about the Task Force on National Security.
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