Policy and Governance

Inclusive, Transparent and Accountable Governance

HSIN’s governance structure is essential to the decision-making processes of the program. The Executive Steering Committee’s (ESC) role is imperative in overseeing the HSIN Program Management Office (PMO) and provides a sounding board for new ideas and feedback from stakeholders. Additionally, the HSIN User Group (HUG) provides sound structure which enables the program to remain sustainable as it evolves.

HSIN will continue facilitating strong communication with executive leadership to ensure involvement in programmatic decisions by engaging all levels of HSIN governance, including the ESC, the Information Sharing Coordination Council (ISCC) and the Information Sharing & Safeguarding Governance Board (ISSGB).

Executive Steering Committee (ESC)

The mission of the ESC is to provide effective governance, oversight and guidance to the HSIN Program Management Office to ensure HSIN meets users’ mission critical requirements on time and on budget. The ESC supports and makes recommendations to the ISSGB, which sets DHS’ information sharing and safeguarding priorities and direction. It also defers to the ISSGB or its leadership on information sharing policy and portfolio management issues. HSIN engaged executive leadership regarding program-level decisions and policy shifts by conducting three meetings in FY 2017 to discuss programmatic goals, objectives and timelines.

HSIN User Group (HUG)

HSIN evolves based on feedback from the organizations that use it. Users can offer suggestions on how to enhance HSIN through the HSIN User Group (formerly the HSIN User Working Group or HUWG). The HUG also allows HSIN users to share their experiences with the HSIN PMO and other users. Within the HUG, there are four subcommittees that focus on targeted components of HSIN. The group meets quarterly and is open to new members. The list below details the activities of each subcommittee.

Requirements/Testing

Discuss planned updates and enhancements to HSIN
Provide feedback regarding new capabilities throughout development

Policy/Procedure

Provide feedback and guidance on official policies

Development

Integrate goals and systems requirements of organization into HSIN

Communications Coordination

Provide feedback on newsletter and social media channels
Offer insights on what events and conferences HSIN should attend

The HUG is an essential component to ensure the program is meeting the needs of all users. HUG membership consists of decision makers, managers, operators, analysts and other users. It is vital to have input from all components of HSIN to have open dialogue. These conversations ensure the program is properly prioritizing development and validating requirements as users request more services, functionality and development projects. Another method that HSIN uses to engage directly with its stakeholders is the Best Practices Community of Excellence (CoE). Through monthly meetings, HSIN presents key topics that highlight case studies in which federal, state, local, tribal and territorial HSIN users have used the platform to implement their mission.

FY 2017 topics included:

Refreshing HSIN Tools for Yearly Special Events
Tips and Tools for HSIN Spring Cleaning
HSIN Policy and Governance
HSIN Community Management Techniques and Domestic Highway Enforcement
Using HSIN for Planning and Preparedness
Using HSIN to Support Super Bowl LI Operations
Supporting Critical Infrastructure Protection
Using HSIN to Support Tactical Operations

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 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