New Report Released by the Markle Foundation Task Force -- "Nation At Risk: Policymakers Need Better Information to Protect the Country"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

For Immediate Release
Contact Colette Walker (202) 352-1742, or
Danna Lindsay at dlindsay () markle org



New Report Released by the Markle Foundation Task Force
on National Security in the Information Age

"Nation At Risk: Policymakers Need Better
Information to Protect the Country"

Nation still at risk of terrorist attacks because we are still unable to
connect the dots.

Washington, DC, March 10, 2009 — A Markle Foundation report issued  
today says that the continued lack of information sharing between  
federal, state, and local agencies puts the US at risk of terrorist  
attack and emerging national security threats. At the same time, civil  
liberties are at risk because we don't have the government-wide  
policies in place to protect them as intelligence collection has  
expanded.

The findings are the work of the Markle Foundation Task Force on  
National Security in the Information Age, a bipartisan group of former  
policy makers and technology and national security experts. The report  
urges the Obama Administration to take swift action to ensure that  
policy makers have the best information available to confront a stark  
set of national security challenges including terrorism, instability  
from the global economic crisis, energy security, climate change,  
cyber security, and weapons of mass destruction.

"For all the nation has invested in national security since 9/11, we  
remain vulnerable to terrorist attack and emerging national security  
threats because we have not adequately improved our ability to connect  
the dots between intelligence gathering and threat protection." said  
Markle Task Force co-chair Zoe Baird, president of the Markle  
Foundation. "We still don't know what we know about these threats."

According to Markle Task Force member and former Senator Slade Gorton,  
"The sense of urgency on information sharing has diminished in the  
seven years since the 9/11 attacks. In addition, civil liberties are  
at risk because we don't have the policies in place to protect them as  
intelligence collection has expanded."

The report recommends that President Obama and his administration  
provide sustained leadership on information sharing among all branches  
of government, including state and local entities. Further, Congress  
should increase the intensity of its efforts to provide the necessary  
oversight to protect the nation.

Markle Task Force Member and former General Counsel to the CIA Jeffrey  
H. Smith added, "To identify, understand, and respond to the threats  
we face, President Obama and his administration should take the steps  
necessary to bring together fragments of information to create  
knowledge and improve decision making. Otherwise, we will remain at  
risk."

Key Recommendations
Key recommendations of the report include the following:

	• The President must make information sharing a top priority by  
establishing leadership that can manage and oversee implementation  
across government.
	• To ensure confidence that the increased use of technological  
capabilities to collect store, share, and analyze information is  
lawful and appropriate, the President and Congress must develop  
government-wide privacy policies that both empower and constrain  
government officials in how they use and handle information.
	• All government information relevant to national security must be  
discoverable by those who need to have that information for their  
mission. Access to that information must be authorized based on their  
role, mission, and a predicated purpose, and audited to improve  
accountability and enhance information security.
About the Markle Task Force
Since April 2002, the Markle Foundation Task Force on National  
Security in the Information Age, a diverse and bipartisan group of  
experienced former policymakers from the Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton  
and Bush administrations, senior executives from the information  
technology industry, and privacy advocates, has recommended ways to  
improve national security decisions by transforming business processes  
and the way information is shared. Its recommendations informed the  
9/11 Commission Report and were subsequently included in two laws.

Over the last few months, a Steering Committee of Markle Task Force  
members has interviewed numerous officials in the Executive Branch and  
the Congress on the state of information sharing in order to identify  
priorities for the new administration, which now includes several  
former Markle Task Force members.

More information about the Markle Task Force, including a full list of  
members, is available atwww.markle.org/markletaskforce.

To download a copy of "Nation At Risk: Policymakers Need Better  
Information to Protect the Country" please visit www.markle.org or www.markletaskforce.org 
.

For additional information, please contact: Colette Walker (202)  
352-1742; or Danna Lindsay atdlindsay () markle org.







The Markle Foundation®  •   10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY  
10020-1903  •   Phone 212.713.7600  •   Fax 212.765.9690







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