Congratulations to Global – The First 10 Years

I want to extend my sincere congratulations to the men and women that make up the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) for 10 successful years of work. Your commitment to working through the substantial challenges that come along with successful information sharing has helped to make us safer.   It has been a privilege to work with Global over the last five years – first from my post at the Department of Justice, then at the Office of Management and Budget, and now from my office at the Information Sharing Environment.  
Global is the Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) that advises the Attorney General on justice information sharing and integration initiatives.  Global is a “group of groups,” representing more than 30 independent organizations, spanning the spectrum of law enforcement, judicial, correctional, and related bodies. They promote standards-based electronic information exchange to provide the justice community with timely, accurate, complete, and accessible information in a secure and trusted environment that ensures privacy protection.  For example, the Global Federated Identity and Privilege Management (GFIPM) framework provides the justice community and partner organizations with a standards-based approach for implementing federated identity.  Additionally, Global’s support on ISE initiatives like NIEM, NSI and Fusion Centers has been critical to these programs success.
My sincere thanks to Bob Boehmer and Carl Wicklund, who serve as the current Chair and Vice Chair of Global.  My colleagues at the Federal level also deserve recognition for their service with Global: Bart Johnson at the Department of Homeland Security; Russ Porter in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and Tom O’Reilly and Pat McCreary at the Bureau of Justice Assistance.  Without their steady leadership – and the leadership of all who have stepped up to serve in these important roles in the last decade – information sharing would not be where it is today. I thank you not only as a fellow information sharing professional, but as a fellow American. Your work helps protect the country, and I am grateful for your tireless dedication to this mission.