Project SAFECOM, an effort to streamline communications
among government first responders, is likely to take years
and has been fraught with difficulties. Still, little
progress has been made in its two-year history — something
the General Accounting Office has said is cause for concern.
It cited lack of consistent executive commitment and
support, and inadequate collaboration as reasons for the
program’s slow growth — noting that the project has had
four different management teams at three different agencies
over a two-year period.
The current project team has tried to lay the groundwork
for interoperability by establishing a governance structure
that emphasizes collaboration with stakeholders, and has
helped to develop grants to drive interoperability, according
to GAO.
It recommended that the Department of Homeland Security,
which manages the e-government initiative behind SAFECOM,
push federal and nonfederal stakeholders to define how they
will contribute to the program as well as to measure their
progress.
DHS said it provided information about recent activities and
sent draft agreements to all of the project’s federal funding
partners, reported GAO.
It also said the Office of Management and Budget’s
e–government objectives to improve operating efficiency and
achieve budgetary savings within federal programs have also
been largely stymied.
