Luncheon/Keynote: Why Public Safety Needs to Explore Open Source Software

A core mission of homeland security is to get actionable information to public safety agencies - information the agencies can actually act on. Essential information is everywhere, but it isn't always easily identified, collected or understood. In order to make information actionable, it first has to be acquired, managed, made sense of, shared with those who need it, and both it and the infrastructure needed to share it have to be secured. For various reasons the public safety community has had difficulty accomplishing many of these essential tasks. One of the most important reasons for this is that large public safety agencies have been using proprietary systems to meet all these requirements. As a result, agencies are too often unable to effectively share information or even to upgrade their existing systems affordably or efficiently. Open source software may offer answers to this long standing problem, and are worth a close look.

About the Speaker:

Dr. David G. Boyd joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) upon its establishment in March 2003. Dr. Boyd serves as the Director of the Command, Control and Interoperability (CCI) Division within the Science and Technology Directorate. Dr. Boyd leads multiple cutting-edge research and development (R&D) programs in communications interoperability, cyber security, knowledge management, reconnaissance, surveillance, and investigative technologies, and basic and futures research; his CCI programs and projects comprise a budget of more than $80 million. As one of the earliest members of the Department, Dr. Boyd helped to build the Science and Technology Directorate from the ground up. Before joining DHS, Dr. Boyd served as the Director of Science and Technology for the National Institute of Justice at the Department of Justice, where he oversaw an activity which grew from a budget of $2 million and a staff of four into the single largest law enforcement and corrections technology development activity in the United States. Prior to joining the Civil Service, Dr. Boyd served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army. He has commanded combat, combat support, and training units in the U.S. and overseas, in times of both peace and war. His more than three dozen military awards include the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois-Champaign, Golden Gate University, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and Walden University. He holds graduate degrees in Management and Public Policy Analysis as well as a doctorate in Decision Sciences, and has published extensively.