Pace of research office mergers at Homeland Security criticized

A plan to merge several research and development efforts at the Homeland Security Department are "not moving quickly enough," a Republican congressional aide said on Thursday.

Kim Kotlar, the legislative director to Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and lead staffer on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Science, and Research and Development, which Thornberry chairs, said there are "four or five" R&D budgets that are managed under different agencies at Homeland Security.

"There is a plan to merge" the offices, "but they're not moving quickly enough," she told industry officials during a Homeland Defense Journal conference.

Kotlar also said Thornberry plans to use his oversight responsibility over the department's science and technology division to watch how it implements a new law designed to limit liability that companies might face if the counter-terrorism technologies they sell to the government fail to prevent terrorism. Thornberry wants the department to take "full advantage" of the law and "follow the spirit" of it, she said.

The aide also said Thornberry would like to see the department identify a framework for "best practices" and standards for combating cyber threats. He would like industry to use a "common, standardized approach" for cyber security, Kotlar said.

Kotlar said Thornberry also will try to ensure that "portfolios are balanced" at the science and technology division, which focuses on transportation security, intelligence analysis, critical infrastructure, and emergency preparedness and response.

Finally, Kotlar highlighted three key areas for the department: integration, metrics and sound management practices. She said the department must fully integrate its 22 agencies and establish a metrics strategy to measure progress.

On management practices, Kotlar said the department has "got to get it right the first time" and should develop personnel plans, strategies and budget outlines. The department, she added, also must move to merge the different agencies' computer systems to one departmental network.