2002 Press Releases &
Media
Advisories
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March 6 , 2002
NEW TASK
FORCE AIMS TO PROTECT NATION WITH BETTER INFORMATION AND
TECHNOLOGY
The Markle Foundation in alliance
with CSIS and The Brookings Institution launches
information and technology working group to improve
national security Contact: Mark Schoeff Jr.
202-775-3242 (mschoeff@csis.org)
New
York, NY and Washington, DC, March 6, 2002 - An
independent, multi-sector task force to determine how
information and technology can enhance national security
was announced today by the Markle Foundation in alliance
with the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) and the Brookings Institution.
The
Task Force on National Security in the Information Age
is co-chaired by Markle Foundation president Zoë Baird
and former Netscape Communications chairman James
Barksdale. It will include leaders from industry,
government and the civil liberties community.
Participants include EdVenture Holdings chairman Esther
Dyson; Sun Microsystems chief researcher John Gage
Governor Mike Leavitt of Utah and former National
Security Agency deputy director Bill Crowell among many
others.
In
the months since September 11, military, intelligence
and law enforcement experts have increasingly recognized
the critical role that information plays in national
security. However, experts agree that efforts to enable
better collection and sharing of information require
clearer definition of the roles of government agencies,
better assessment of new technologies for improved
information handling and careful consideration of how to
expand the use of information while safeguarding civil
liberties. The group will allow thought leaders from a
wide variety of relevant fields to address these matters
together.
"Information is the key to a more secure society.
As we expand the role of information collection and
sharing, let's be sure we also protect the democratic
freedoms that make our society worth securing," said Ms.
Baird. "This task force is the kind of broad,
multi-sectoral effort needed to address these
imperatives and create a viable framework for moving
forward."
The
task force will make recommendations
regarding:
- Technologies that enable the more effective
collection and sharing of information in response to
new security threats
- Aligning governmental structures and rules with
the more information-intensive approach needed to
counteract new security threats
- Balancing the expansion of information's role
in national security with safeguards for civil
liberties - particularly in the privacy realm
- Strategies for deploying information more
effectively for law enforcement, intelligence and
homeland defense.
- The role of the private sector in designing and
implementing an information-based national security
response, and the level of collaboration between
private and public sectors.
"New
technologies, applied appropriately, can effectively
transform our ability to meet the security challenges of
the twenty-first century," said John Hamre, president,
CSIS. "This task force will develop the comprehensive
conceptual framework that is needed to identify the
information gaps and drive a strategy for remedying
them."
Over
the next year, the group will release policy and
briefing papers, provide information on promising
technologies and inform government officials. The
ultimate goal is to produce a broad and coherent
strategic vision that will enable the U.S. government,
in collaboration with industry and civil society, to
meet the challenge of the new security environment in an
information age.
Current participants in the Task Force on
National Security in the Information Age
Michael Armacost, President, the Brookings
Institution
Robert
Atkinson, Progressive Policy Institute
Stewart
Baker, Lawyer, Steptoe & Johnson
Jerry Berman,
Executive Director, Center For Democracy &
Technology
Robert Bryant, President & CEO, The
National Insurance Crime Bureau
William Crowell,
President & CEO, CyLink Corporation
Esther Dyson,
Chairman, EdVenture Holdings
David Farber, Professor
of Telecommunication Systems, University of Pennsylvania
School of Engineering
John Gage, Chief Researcher,
Sun Microsystems
John Hamre, President, Center for
Strategic and International Studies
Eric Holder,
Partner, Covington & Burling
Arnold Kanter,
Principal, The Scowcroft Group
Robert Kimmitt,
Executive Vice President of Global and Strategic Policy,
AOL Time Warner, Inc.
Michael Leavitt, Governor of
Utah
Tara Lemmey, Founding Partner & CEO, Project
LENS
Judy Miller, Lawyer, Williams &
Connolly
Jim Morris, Dean, Carnegie Mellon School of
Computer Science
Jeffrey Smith, Partner, Arnold
& Porter
Abraham Sofaer, Senior Fellow, Hoover
Institution, Stanford University
Paul Schott Stevens,
Partner, Financial Services, Privacy Law,
Dechert
Rick White, President & CEO,
TechNet
About the Markle Foundation
The Markle
Foundation works to realize the potential of emerging
communications media and information technology to
improve people's lives, through its own programs of
grants, investments, research and public education.
Markle recently committed $100 million to its efforts in
public policy, healthcare and children's learning. For
more information see http://www.markle.org/.
About the Center for Strategic &
International Studies (CSIS)
For four decades,
CSIS has been dedicated to providing world leaders with
strategic insights on-solutions to-current and emerging
global issues. CSIS maintains resident experts on all
the world's major geographical regions and is committed
to helping develop new methods of governance for the
global age. Its audiences include public and private
policymakers in the United States and around the world.
For more information, see http://www.csis.org/about/index.htm.
About The Brookings Institution
The
Brookings Institution is an independent, nonpartisan
research organization, which seeks to improve the
performance and quality of U.S. public policies. It
addresses current and emerging policy challenges and
offers practical recommendations for dealing with them,
expressed in language that is accessible to policymakers
and the general public alike. For more information, see
http://www.brookings.edu/.
Contact:
These are
the views of the individuals cited, not of
CSIS,
which does not take policy
positions.
CSIS is an
independent, nonpartisan public policy organization.
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