Public-private partnershipPublic-private partnership in homeland security

The Homeland Security and Defense Business Council the other day released its 14th and final monograph as part of its 9/10/11 Project, focusing on successful public-private partnerships that have served to help prepare our United States over the past decade.

The Council says that job of securing the U.S. homeland is an extensive and daunting mission that cannot be accomplished by government alone. It requires that the United States, collectively, become a resilient nation, with the capabilities needed to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against all threats. The monograph highlights the work of homeland security solution providers who support the government and its missions by developing the technologies, products, and services that keep America safe.

“Homeland security is and must be a shared, multi-tiered mission for local, state and federal government in coordination with the general public and businesses, non-profit organizations, the critical infrastructure sectors, and, most certainly, those companies that provide the technology, products and services solutions” said Marc Pearl, Council President & CEO. “Members of the Council work every day alongside our public-sector colleagues, creating effective partnerships and addressing our country’s most challenging safety and security problems. As we build on the foundation of the last 10 years and look forward to the next decade, the scope and complexity of the homeland security mission will continue to evolve, and we must continue to leverage the expertise and resources of governments, business and the public to achieve success in our mission.”

The Council will also yesterday hosted a National Conversation on Homeland Security Looking Forward, in coordination with the Homeland Security Policy Institute, featuring a discussion with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and her predecessors Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff. The conversation, moderated by Admiral Thad Allen, former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, focused on the challenges facing homeland security, the continuously changing threat environment, and the role of the private sector over the next decade.

On the 10th of each month since September 2010, the Council has released specific-topic monographs that have provided a brief history of U.S. efforts on each homeland security issue; how far we have come since 9/11; and how industry solution providers and the government have worked together to address that topic. The first thirteen monographs included a running timeline (interactive on the Council’s Web site) illustrating the events, incidents, and critical government responses pertinent to that month’s topic.