New IT budget figures still show big boost for DHS

Revised figures from the Office of Management and Budget show that while the Homeland Security Department's fiscal 2007 information technology budget is unlikely to be as robust as first heralded, substantial increases still are planned for key programs.

The updated figures, released last week, show proposed Homeland Security IT funding for fiscal 2007 at $4.16 billion -- a $520 million, or 14 percent, increase over the level requested for fiscal 2006 -- with programs related to border security and transportation security receiving the largest boosts.

Ray Bjorklund, chief knowledge officer at Federal Sources Inc., a consultancy in McLean, Va., said a handful of DHS agencies fared well in the IT budget proposal, but some lower-level projects either were rolled into larger programs or eliminated.

"A lot of these projects … you heard a lot of buzz about them … they really aren't moving forward as rapidly as you would expect," Bjorklund said.

The budget request for one of the largest IT projects at the Homeland Security -- the consolidation of the department's technology infrastructure -- remained strong at $954.3 million, a $67.1 million increase over the fiscal 2006 request.

DHS spokesman Larry Orluskie said that this project involves consolidating 16 data centers into two.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Hank Chase, now director of Homeland Security programs at Smart LLP, a Devon, Pa.-based consulting firm, said the hefty IT budget is signaling a move toward a greater dependency on technological solutions for security.

But as business case approval at OMB has become essential for funding under the Bush administration, programs risk cuts, he said.

"I'm sure that folks at DHS and elsewhere like that requirement like they would want a hole in the head," Chase said. "If the program is not approved, they are not getting any funding, or only a fraction of the total requirements."

While the proposed budget for fiscal 2007 grants the DHS chief information officer's office a $3.7 million increase for protecting systems from cyber attacks, putting the total figure at $57.8 million, Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting Inc. in Jenkintown, Pa., said he was disappointed DHS didn't put more of the request toward protecting the country's information infrastructure.

"Critical infrastructure protection is one of the greatest vulnerabilities that we have as a nation to terrorist attack," Suss said. "Just picture the economic damage that would result from just one day of the nation's ATM machines being down."

Suss said the government needs to approach IT infrastructure protection similarly to regulating the interstate highway system, with DHS coordinating federal resources.

Agencies within DHS slated to receive boosts under the proposed fiscal 2007 budget include Citizenship and Immigration Services, which would get $276 million for an IT systems modernization project, representing a $196 million increase from the fiscal 2006 requested level.

The request for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program to collect data on foreigners visiting the country was $407.4 million, $66.4 million more than the $341 million sought in fiscal 2006.

A Customs and Border Protection program intended to provide border agents with real-time illegal crossing information received a $100.8 million increase to $139.3 million in the fiscal 2007 request, and the agency's vehicle tracking program was given a $4.7 million boost.

A cross-department project to create a national wireless communications network for federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, known as the Integrated Wireless Network, received a $99.6 million increase to $361.3 million under the DHS request. The Justice Department proposal for the effort was $180 million, a $90.3 million increase.