New DHS secretary moves fast

The new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has already rolled up her sleeves and is working to improve the availability of information at the massive agency created by consolidating 22 federal agencies under its umbrella. Secretary Janet Napolitano said she plans to form a steering committee of leaders from the department's agencies to end duplicate processes and improve accountability--and that will definitely involve information technology.

"Developing a leaner, smarter and more efficient DHS is a responsibility shared by all agencies, offices and employees across the department," Napolitano said. "Transforming DHS will require significant effort and input on everyone's behalf. But through a unified and sustained effort, we will make lasting and meaningful improvements."

Although DHS provided few details about this latest directive, Napolitano led a similar initiative when she was governor of Arizona. That focused on reducing costs and improving efficiency in procurement, energy conservation, travel, fleet management, training and electronic communications. The programs saved the state more than $1 billion, according to DHS.

For more on this DHS initiative:
- check out this DHS press release

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