The Department of Homeland Security’s external advisory council has been tasked with four new assignments, including a review of its approach to biometric identity management, risks associated with information and communication technology (ICT), and how the department can help secure the nation’s economy.
Under the new taskings, which were announced on Monday by Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf during a meeting of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC), the panel will form new subcommittees to assess each issue. Wolf’s direction includes a fourth subcommittee on “youth-focused engagement” national implementation to prevent radicalization and violence.
Wolf said the Biometrics Subcommittee will review existing DHS “authorities and governance to assure it has a single and reliable approach to biometric identity management both internally and with its external partners.” Another aspect of the review will include a look at the existing biometric vision and plan “to include effective performance metrics and oversight.”
The ICT Industrial Strategy panel will examine risks from the technology, recommend how the government and industry can collaborate on a “shared understanding of supply chain vulnerabilities and threats,” and assess how well the government is doing in acquiring secure ICT technology, he said.
The Economic Security Subcommittee “will explore the elements of economic security as they relate to the department’s authorities and provide recommendations to ensure that the department is optimally positioned, resourced and organized to safeguard this important component of the American market system and way of life,” Wolf said.
The HSAC on Monday approved two reports of its Emerging Technologies Subcommittee, including one on threats from unmanned aircraft systems and the steps needed to counter these threats, and another on the threats and benefits to the homeland from 3D printing technology.
The HSAC is chaired by William Webster, the former director of the CIA and FBI, and a former federal judge.
Wolf said he will provide Webster and the council additional information on the new assignments in the coming days.