Dyson College of Arts and Sciences
Issue link: http://dysoncollege.uberflip.com/i/128987
integration there as well. In order for the government to effectively deal with its digital concerns, we must deal with an infrastructure that is owned primarily by the private sector—most publicly held companies and their shareholders. There is no reason why, in this day and age, there cannot and should not be the closest possible collaboration with regard to the digital infrastructure of this country. Some have fooled themselves into believing that the cyber cure is for private sector to meet an array of government regulations. The reality is, however, that cyber criminals and nation states innovate and evolve their methods of attack more quickly than our ability to regulate, legislate and mandate. Technology moves a lot faster than Congress. So I would argue that the way to fight 21st century cyber threats is to rapidly improve public-private partnerships. There is no area, no space that's more important to this country than in the digital world. And if there's ever been a place for public-private partnership because it has an impact on disaster relief and disaster recovery, this is it. In the 21st century interdependent world, now more than ever, public-private sector collaboration is absolutely essential. In my view, we need to be looking at everything we can to get past the inertia of bureaucracy and turf mindsets and also get past the notion of keeping good people on the outside looking in. The private sector has historically asked, I might add, and at times pleaded, to be included in the discussion—to be seen not simply through the lens of procurement, but through the lens of partnership. The public sector pushed back because it thinks that the only thing the private sector is doing is advancing its own propriety interests, its own corporate interests. But that's just the wrong mindset for the political world to have. There is that sense of social responsibility, they do want to help. They must be given the opportunity to do so. We talked about a process of communication and collaborations—they need to be engaged in that process. They should not be ignored. Doing the right thing for the company, the employees, the community, and the shareholders—that is the motivation that drives the private sector and has led to innovation for both the public and private sectors. So we've got to include them and give them a seat at the table. They need to be invited at all levels of planning. By the way, you have a great FEMA director, Craig Fugate. I had the privilege of working with him when he was working in Florida as the emergency management director—he's a terrific, terrific leader. And I was pleased to hear him speak about FEMA's efforts to be even more aggressive and integrate the private sector within its national emergency teams. This is a man who is one of the finest practitioners that I know, and must tell you that he wants the private sector to become more engaged. Last year, FEMA hosted its first-ever private sector representatives at your national response coordination center. It's a 90-day rotation. They bring people in from the private sector to let them see how FEMA operates. FEMA understands the public better than most agencies, and that private-sector participation before, during and post disaster is absolutely essential. They have this "whole community" concept at FEMA, and I think that bodes well for our future. And also, they feel very strongly about doing more on the prevention side. One of the other interesting things that has happened in the post-9/11 world is actually a piece of legislation on the Hill. Chairman Mike Rogers, of the House Intelligence Committee, is pushing for legislation that would accelerate the process to give some people in the private sector clearances so you can get a little bit more information…to help you prepare. 14