Tell DHS what you think about Homeland Security priorities – Log on this week!

This year marks the first-ever Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR), a top-to-bottom review of the Department of Homeland Security to assess our nation’s homeland security policies and priorities. Although the review is occurring in Washington, DHS knows that it won’t really be complete unless it includes input from stakeholders across the country, including other federal agencies, state, local and tribal governments, first responders, law enforcement officials, the academic and business communities, and members of the public who are passionate about homeland security issues.

That’s why DHS has teamed up with the non-profit, non-partisan National Academy of Public Administration to host the National Dialogue on the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. We are asking for your participation and your support for this innovative approach to including stakeholder collaboration in the policymaking process. The first phase of the dialogue, held from August 3-9th, 2009, brought together over 8,000 stakeholders to review and weigh in on DHS’ proposed goals for homeland security.

The second dialogue is live this week. It goes a step further, asking participants to do two things:

• Prioritize. In a time when communities and families across the country are being asked to do more with less, DHS is asking for your help in choosing which aspects of its mission are the most important. Through a customized interactive platform, you will be able to let us know exactly where your priorities lie.
• Discuss. In addition to prioritizing its objectives, DHS is also interested in your thoughts on how best to achieve them. Submit your best ideas, discuss the ideas of others, and vote the best ones to the top! Is there a best practice that works well in your community that should be adopted more broadly, or a policy that is affecting how you perform the homeland security mission? Let us know!

We know that the GovLoop community represents an absolutely critical voice in this discussion. You live and work at the intersection of government, transparency, and innovation. You have a finely honed sense of what will and won’t work, not just for government, but for those across the nation who rely on government to ensure our security and protect our homeland.

So, we’re asking for your help. Log on this week to share your priorities, submit ideas, and vote on the ones that are the most important for DHS to know about. As these ideas rise to the top, they will give DHS a picture of your top ideas, concerns, and priorities about our nation’s homeland security policies.

Also, please help spread the word to others in your network who are involved with or interested in the following fields:

• Law enforcement (police, etc.)
• Transportation
• Public health
• First responders (fire, EMT, etc.)
• Immigration
• Academic study of homeland security
• Emergency management
• IT

Thanks, and we hope to see you online!

Dan Munz
The QHSR Dialogue Team
Web: http://www.homelandsecuritydialogue.org
Twitter: @qhsrdialogue