Overview[]
The Office of Infrastructure Protection (OIP) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed and maintains a National Asset Database. This database contains information on over 77,000 individual assets, ranging from dams, hazardous materials sites, and nuclear power plants to local festivals, petting zoos, and sporting good stores.
Source: Office of the Inspector General. Department of Homeland Security.
Source of Information for Database[]
DHS gets information for the Database from a variety of sources. According to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), sources include existing government and commercially available databases[1]; sector-specific agencies and other federal entities; voluntary submittals by owners and operators; periodic requests for information from states and localities and the private sector; and DHS-initiated studies. The number of assets in the Database is expected to grow as additional information is gathered.
DHS Characterization[]
DHS characterizes the National Asset Database not as a list of critical assets, but rather as a national asset inventory providing the "universe" from which various lists of critical assets are produced. As such, the Department maintains that it represents just the first step in DHS’s risk management process outlined in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. DHS has developed, apparently from the National Asset Database, a list of about 600 assets that it has determined are critical to the nation.
Intended Uses[]
There appear to be two primary uses for the Database: as a first step in a prioritization process that eventually will help focus risk reduction activities; and, to provide a degree of situational awareness.
References[]
- ↑ Examples of existing government databases that have contributed to the National Asset Database include the Chemical Sites List (an Environmental Protection Agency database), and the General Services Administration list of GSA Buildings.