[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66720-66721]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24042]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

[Docket No. DHS-2022-0050]


Homeland Security Advisory Council

AGENCY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), The Office of 
Partnership and Engagement (OPE).

ACTION: Notice of new taskings for the Homeland Security Advisory 
Council (HSAC).

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SUMMARY: On October 16, 2022 the Secretary of DHS, Alejandro N. 
Mayorkas, tasked the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) to 
establish four new subcommittees further outlined below. This notice is 
not a solicitation for membership.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca Sternhell, Executive Director 
of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, Office of Partnership and 
Engagement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security at [email protected] or 
202-891-2876.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The HSAC provides organizationally 
independent, strategic, timely, specific, and actionable advice and 
recommendations for the consideration of the Secretary of the 
Department of Homeland Security on matters related to homeland 
security. The HSAC is comprised of leaders in local law enforcement, 
first responders, public health, State, local and tribal government, 
national policy, the private sector, and academia.
    The four new subcommittees are as follows:

Subcommittee (1): DHS Leadership in Supply Chain Security

    A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can 
take a greater leadership role in supply chain security, including by 
strengthening supply chain cybersecurity.

Subcommittee (2): DHS Intelligence and Information Sharing

    A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can 
improve upon its intelligence and information sharing with our key 
federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector 
partners. The subcommittee will assess whether the Department's 
information sharing architecture developed by the DHS Office of 
Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) is adequate for the threats of today 
and tomorrow, and provide advice and recommendations to better enable 
the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) to rapidly and 
efficiently share information and intelligence with our key partners.

Subcommittee (3): DHS Transparency and Open Government

    A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can 
improve its commitment to transparency and open government. The 
subcommittee will provide advice and recommendations that will position 
the Department as the leader in this critical area of model government 
conduct.

Subcommittee (4): Homeland Security Technology and Innovation Network

    A subcommittee to provide recommendations on how the Department can 
create a more robust and efficient Homeland Security Technology and 
Innovation Network. The subcommittee will provide advice and 
recommendations that will develop the Department's innovation, research 
and development, and technology network with the private sector.

Tasking (1): DHS Leadership in Supply Chain Security

    The United States needs resilient, diverse, and secure supply 
chains to ensure our economic prosperity and national security. DHS 
continues to protect America's national and economic security by 
facilitating legitimate trade and travel and rigorously enforcing U.S. 
customs and immigration laws and regulations.
    As the Department strives to stay ahead of the curve and take a 
greater leadership role by harnessing new technologies, minimizing 
environmental impact, and increasing partnerships in this vital area, 
this HSAC subcommittee is tasked to provide recommendations on how the 
Department can take a greater leadership role in supply chain security. 
The subcommittee's assessment will include, but need not be limited to, 
the following:
    a. strengthening physical security;
    b. strengthening cybersecurity; and,
    c. increasing efficiencies to ensure a resilient, safe, and secure 
supply chain for critical manufacturing and technology sectors.

Tasking (2): DHS Intelligence and Information Sharing

    Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners convened 
shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, creating a 
domestic information sharing architecture to enable the timely and 
seamless exchange of information to detect and eliminate terrorist 
threats. In the 21 years since 9/11, our law enforcement and homeland 
security community has made great progress in reshaping our information 
sharing environment. Working together, we put policies and processes in 
place that help us to be safer and more secure than we were years ago.
    As the Department approaches its 20th Anniversary, the HSAC 
subcommittee is asked to provide recommendations on:
    1. How the Department can rapidly and efficiently share 
intelligence and information with its federal, state, local, tribal, 
territorial, and private sector partners. Have DHS investments in 
information sharing technology and changes in law and policy resulted 
in increased knowledge transfer and resilience? Are further investments 
or changes in law or policy needed?
    2. Has DHS created an information and intelligence sharing 
architecture that efficiently spreads knowledge and rapidly shares 
critical information? Are there steps that we need to take to 
revitalize or improve this architecture?
    3. Whether the current DHS information sharing architecture 
optimizes information sharing for threats other than counterterrorism; 
for example, cyber, border security, foreign influence/propaganda, 
strategic advantage, and others.
    4. Internal DHS Information Sharing: Has DHS fully implemented 
internal DHS information sharing policy--for example, the One DHS 
Memo--to leverage DHS data and information to support Departmental 
missions like border security as well as to develop and share relevant, 
quality intelligence with our partners?

Tasking (3): DHS Transparency and Open Government

    DHS is committed to transparency and promoting the principles of an 
Open Government. The United States has worked both domestically and 
internationally to ensure global support for Open Government principles 
to promote transparency, fight corruption, energize civic engagement, 
and leverage new technologies in order to strengthen

[[Page 66721]]

the foundations of freedom in our own nation and abroad.
    DHS has expanded transparency in concert with the development of 
Open Government Plans, recognizing that increased access to research 
data and information can encourage research collaboration and help 
successfully address the nation's constantly evolving homeland security 
challenges.
    The HSAC subcommittee is asked to provide recommendations on:
    1. How the Department and its components can expand on the 
foundation set by previous Open Government Plans for DHS.
    2. New initiatives to increase transparency and sustaining the DHS 
mission to protect the homeland.
    3. How DHS can be held accountable in meeting its commitment to be 
a leader in modeling government openness and transparency.

Tasking (4): Homeland Security Technology and Innovation Network

    DHS employs more than 240,000 individuals working in multiple 
offices and components across the country and the world. While the 
mission is uniform across the Department--to protect the homeland from 
foreign and domestic threats--the tools necessary to accomplish this 
can vary widely by office and can change in time. Moreover, while some 
threats are known and have been core to the DHS mission since its 
inception, we must remain ever vigilant and responsive to countering 
both unknown and future threats. In this scenario we may face 
accelerated timelines that do not fit into our normal acquisition life 
cycle to acquire key technology to counter a threat. It is critical to 
our nation's security to have a robust and efficient Homeland Security 
Technology and Innovation Network that promotes an enhanced schedule of 
development and deployment of critical technology and assets to protect 
the homeland.
    To maximize the opportunity afforded by partnership with the 
private sector and the expertise within the Department, the HSAC 
subcommittee is asked to assess the private sector experience, 
specifically in the areas of technology development and innovation, and 
provide recommendations on how the Department can create a more robust 
and efficient Homeland Security Technology and Innovation Network. The 
subcommittee's assessment will include, but need not be limited to, the 
following:
    a. an assessment of how the private sector engages with the current 
Research and Development (R&D) and acquisition programs and 
opportunities, including where those can be maximized or improved;
    b. different means of increasing innovative technology partnerships 
with the private sector;
    c. recommendations on harmonizing existing innovation efforts 
across the Department and its components to best leverage funding and 
resources; and
    d. identifying current barriers to developing a more robust 
technology and innovation network, including legal, contracting, and 
policy considerations.
    Schedule: The four subcommittees' findings and recommendations will 
be submitted to the HSAC for its deliberation and vote during a public 
meeting. Once the recommendations from the four subcommittees are voted 
on by the HSAC, they will be submitted to the Secretary. The four 
subcommittees will submit their findings and recommendations to the 
HSAC in March 2023.

    Dated: October 26, 2022.
Rebecca K.K. Sternhell,
Executive Director, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Department of 
Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2022-24042 Filed 11-3-22; 8:45 am]
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