Overview[]
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) requires the designation of a Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) "responsible for information sharing across the Federal Government" to oversee the implementation of and manage the ISE.[1]
With respect to the PM-ISE, the President's June 2, 2005 Memorandum on Strengthening Information Sharing, Access, and Integration-Organizational, Management, and Policy Development Structures for Creating the Terrorism Information Sharing Environment states that "the DNI shall promptly designate the PM, and all personnel, funds, and other resources assigned to the PM, as part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) pursuant to section 103(c)(9) of the National Security Act of 1947 and shall administer the PM and related resources as part of the ODNI throughout the initial 2-year term of the PM's office."[2]
Working in consultation with the Information Sharing Council (ISC), an interagency advisory body for Federal departments and agencies with counterterrorism missions, the PM-ISE's responsibilities include:
- Planning for and overseeing the implementation of, and managing, the ISE;
- Assisting in the development of policies, procedures, guidelines, rules, and standards as appropriate to foster the development and proper operation of the ISE; and
- Assisting, monitoring, and assessing the implementation of the ISE by Federal departments and agencies to ensure adequate progress, technological consistency and policy compliance, and regularly report findings to Congress.[3]
Among other duties, the PM-ISE is responsible for assisting the President in submitting an implementation plan for the ISE to Congress that addresses eleven specific requirements in Section 1016(e). In January 2006, the PM-ISE produced an Interim Implementation Plan (IIP) that partially responded to the eleven 1016(e) requirements.
A number of IIP actions — many of which also responded directly to the President's December 16, 2005 Memorandum that set forth Guidelines and Requirements in Support of the Information Sharing Environment — have already been completed, and the others were to be accomplished by December 2006.