The chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, Tom
Davis, R-Va., said the committee would continue to monitor
the problems identified in the report and the extent to
which they may have affected FEMA’s response to Hurricane
Katrina.
He responded to the audit by calling for improved IT
systems at FEMA, noting the “lack of integration between
EP-and-R systems” which “hindered information exchange
during response and recovery operations,” identified in the
report.
Davis singled out a number of other IT management shortfalls
limiting the effectiveness of the EP-and-R Directorate,
such as the inability to manage increased workloads and
the lack of real-time reporting.
“This is a problem we see on a government-wide basis and
one that the Government Reform Committee will continue to
monitor,” he said.
The DHS IG audit recommended that the secretary for EP-and-R
direct the CIO to complete the FEMA enterprise architecture,
linked to the overall DHS architecture and other related
initiatives; ensure cross-cutting participation from
headquarters, regions, and states developing and maintaining
FEMA business and system requirements; look into alternatives
for providing the technology needed to support these
requirements; develop a testing environment that duplicates
the real systems environment; and, ensure that proper
configuration management activities are followed and documented.
