Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN)

A Message from the HSIN Executive Steering Committee

To Our Homeland Security Partners,

Trusted, secure information sharing is integral to active collaboration and coordination across DHS and with the homeland security partners that help protect this nation. In fiscal year 2017, partners across all levels of government, the private sector and international relied on HSIN to support their information sharing needs in areas including daily operations, planned events and exercises, public safety, incident response and emergency management. As co-chair of the HSIN Executive Steering Committee, I thank you for your support as we continue to advance the HSIN capability.

This year, HSIN implemented enhanced all threats and all-hazards capabilities to meet new and existing users' operational needs as the program's user base increased by 36 percent with over 25,000 new users. The program increased its geospatial capabilities, strengthening the ongoing effort to keep our borders safe and combat transnational crime, and partnered with DHS's Blue Campaign to help coordinate and enhance the Department's anti-human-trafficking efforts. Among other major accomplishments, all 79 fusion centers joined HSIN Exchange and the program reached a key milestone when it became the first DHS Headquarters program to move all capabilities data and infrastructure to the secure cloud environment.

The HSIN capability provided a positive impact across DHS by enabling enhanced information sharing and daily operations coordination for seamless steady-state activities, as well as, for major events, exercises, threats and incidents. This year, HSIN Mission Advocates increased direct support for planned events by 57 percent from local to high-profile events including National Special Security Events, such as the 58^th Presidential Inauguration and the 72^nd session of the United Nations General Assembly; federal exercises such as the 2017 Integrated Advance Exercise for DHS Components; and continued support for major sporting events including the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby.

The program also provides the essential resources to prepare for, and quickly respond to disasters at a moment's notice. As natural disasters including wildfires and hurricanes struck the nation in 2017, HSIN aided response and recovery by coordinating information and providing a common operating picture for multiple federal agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HSIN also supplied up-to-date data and mapping information, enabling first responders and other public safety officials to save lives and protect critical infrastructure.

Homeland Security Partners trust and rely on HSIN as the front door to information sharing across the homeland security enterprise. It brings together the people, processes and technology needed to achieve mission success. This year's annual report focuses on HSIN's ability to advance interagency and private sector collaboration. We appreciate your continued HSIN support and the opportunity to share these achievements with you.

Thank you,

Signatures for Michael Potts and Frank DiFalco

A photo of Frank DiFalco Frank DiFalco
Deputy Director, DHS Operations and Planning
Co-Chair, HSIN Executive Steering Committee

HSIN Provides Key Support During Presidential Inauguration

During the 58^th Presidential Inauguration, HSIN served as the primary information sharing platform to support execution of security operations. HSIN provided information sharing subject matter experts who customized planning and operational tools that ensured approved users had the right access and training to meet mission needs. Partners deployed HSIN tools for real-time incident monitoring, secure collaboration capabilities and secure data exchange.

Did You Know?: HSIN's operational geospatial data provided secure information feeds to 15 approved mission critical systems, and was a key component to the successful support of event security, crisis mitigation and incident management. It also hosted 150 geospatial layers from 20 federal, state and local partners.

Eclipse Watch Sets Best Practice for Small Jurisdictions

Millions of people traveled to the path of totality, a 70-mile wide strip of land that extended from Oregon to South Carolina. To facilitate information sharing and situational awareness among partners, HSIN established a Solar Eclipse community with multiple subsites for participating states and agencies. By establishing a single community for jurisdictions around the nation, HSIN facilitated mission success for a large number of partners and enabled cost savings by reducing or eliminating duplication of efforts at local levels.

"Individual pages were created for the 12 states in the path of the eclipse, along with a Federal coordination page. The site housed a tracker for gatherings and incidents, a document library, contact lists and an area for important announcements."

Terrence Newsome
HSIN Mission Advocate

Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) Partnership with HSIN

The HSIN Program has set several goals to help build strong relationships with Tribal Nations, including: establishing a platform for tribal governments' presence on HSIN; strengthening tribes' abilities to collaborate with homeland security partners in support of tribes' mission success; and enhancing operational capabilities with HSIN's comprehensive set of secure information sharing tools.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's Incident Management team uses HSIN for secure, real-time information sharing and collaboration for their first responder needs and to support public safety operations across the reservation, which includes luxury hotels, a gaming casino and other properties.

Did You Know?: In July, the SMSC used HSIN to support its Annual Wacipi, a ceremonial gathering of the tribe's community. SMSC also used HSIN over the summer in support of several amphitheater concerts at Prior Lake.

HSIN and GMO Team Up on 'Sail Boston' Tall Ships Event

Mission partners used HSIN and DHS Geospatial Management Office mapping capabilities to support the 'Sail Boston' Tall Ships event. The FBI's Boston Field Office, Massachusetts Commonwealth Fusion Center, Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), Boston Police Department and Massachusetts State Police used HSIN to analyze shared intelligence. HSIN enabled seamless access to incidents and reports as well as high-resolution imagery and critical infrastructure information.

"This partnership will provide the BRIC and mission partners with superior levels of situational awareness, inform decision making, and greatly enable the planning, rehearsal, and execution phases of the event."

David Carabin
BRIC Director

HSIN is the Top-Seeded Team for Information Sharing at the NCAA^® Tournament

HSIN kept fans safe at several sites of the men's collegiate Division I basketball tournament, including the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona. HSIN's information sharing role among public safety partners included providing tools such as HSIN Connect for secure messaging and collaboration. These capabilities allow stakeholders to access to up-to-date information from a single common view and coordination point, allowing emergency personnel to efficiently and effectively manage their efforts.

Did You Know?: HSIN Mission Advocates were integral to the operation, conducting outreach to convene partners to work together using the same playbook. HSIN Mission Advocates also developed and refined the information sharing strategies needed to provide a front line of defense against potential threats.

A First for HSIN: Supporting the U.S. Open Golf Tournament in Wisconsin

HSIN enabled 22 federal, state and local agencies to join with private sector partners to support security at the U.S. Open golf tournament in Erin, Wisconsin. The DHS Geospatial Management Office worked with HSIN Mission Advocates to deliver a solution that provided live mapping of incidents at the event, which enabled the Joint Operations Command Center to easily track emergency service calls and provide clear operational direction.

"Having one centralized point to disseminate information made communications concise and consistent across all of the public safety entities, which ranged from local to state to federal and even civilian organizations."

Captain Martin Schulteis
Deputy Incident Commander for the Washington County Sheriff's Office

HSIN Support Shows 'Anything is Possible' for IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

At the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee, HSIN supported public safety operations for 23 partners including the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate, U.S. Coast Guard, Tennessee Fusion Center, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and Tennessee Office of Homeland Security. Officials used HSIN to display video from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, through an iPad to support situational awareness and risk mitigation activities.

"HSIN provided the Hamilton County Emergency Operations Center the ability to monitor activities and maintain an event log as situations happened."

Tony Reavley
Director of Emergency Services and Homeland Security for Hamilton County