Maryfran Johnson on the Department of Homeland Security

Maryfran Johnson of Computerworld has written a biting editorial about our Department of Homeland Security:

Given that the private sector owns and operates 85% of the critical infrastructure that keeps our lights on and water flowing, this may seem like the natural course of events. But at least part of the fantasy behind spending billions of our tax dollars on the DHS was to create an agency that could orchestrate a public/private collaboration on security matters. "I think largely we've dropped the ball," says Richard Clarke, former chairman of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board.

CIOs and senior IT executives would no doubt agree. They've all noticed that there are no incentives in the 1-year-old "National Strategy to Secure Cyber Space" plan for private industry. No tax credits. No cost sharing. No real reason to care.

The companies that do care, however, are computer industry vendors and service providers. They influence DHS strategy and direction through a handful of powerful lobbying groups, the most prominent being the Information Technology Association of America. Their agendas boil down to this: Prevent any new government regulations or reporting requirements that would mandate changes in IT products. So far, mission accomplished.

Just once I would like to see a trade association recognize that being the public's advocate to the industry is at least as important as being the industry's advocate to the public.