Coast Guard official warns of gaps in information systems

The Coast Guard must bridge "significant gaps" in its information and communications capabilities in order to fight terrorism abroad, protect maritime commerce and prevent high-risk cargo from entering U.S. ports, a top Coast Guard information official said Monday.

"We have a significant challenge in building information systems that support our operational assets ... so that these people can make decisions right on the spot," Chief Knowledge Officer Nathaniel Heiner said during a "knowledge management" conference sponsored by E-Gov.

Heiner noted that the Coast Guard had devoted about 1 percent of its resources to port security before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But now, he said, 58 percent of its operations focus on protecting more than 360 U.S. seaports, which handle 95 percent of the nation's commerce. "We are looking at [shipping] containers with a whole new set of eyes," he said.

The Coast Guard's maritime strategy for homeland security calls for a "new normalcy" that includes improved command-and-control capabilities, more port-security patrols, and better methods for sharing intelligence and information about foreign cargo and crewmembers.

But Heiner said the Coast Guard has not yet reached those goals, in part because of "capability gaps" that prevent commanding officers on large cutters and other vessels from accessing all the data support they need, when they need it.

"But even at the stations, our land-based systems are woefully behind," Heiner said. "Right now, there are just too many different radio [communications] and various other things going on. We are working to fix that, but it is not an overnight fix."

Heiner said part of that fix involves a joint effort with the Navy to create "a common operational picture at the port level" by connecting information systems and integrating "all sorts of technologies," including radars and surveillance cameras.

But while interoperability is crucial to protecting the nation's ports, Heiner cautioned that a seamless information network also could be a "very rich target" for terrorists. "In the military services, we have very strict rules about the detachability of our networks," he said. "If we succeed at e-government, we have to design networks in a way that ... supports interagency work and, at the same time, is capable of detaching from the more vulnerable parts of the Internet."

Heiner added that the Coast Guard has been more wary of the Internet since the Sept. 11 attacks, removing any information from its Web site that might cause "the slightest doubt about operational security."

"We've pulled stuff off our Web sites, and we're keeping it off the Web sites until we understand, a lot better, what we're up against," Heiner said. "You used to be able to go [online] and find out what the operating parameters of cutters were. This is not a good idea anymore."