The Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) was intended to be a collaborative effort among  the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Homeland Security (DHS), and the Treasury to provide  secure, seamless, interoperable, and reliable nationwide wireless communications in  support of federal agents and officers engaged in law enforcement, protective services,  homeland defense, and disaster response missions. To address our objective, we  reviewed and analyzed documentation from DOJ, DHS, and Treasury to  determine the status of IWN,   interviewed officials from each department about the extent to which they are  collaborating with the other departments on IWN or an alternative joint radio  communications solution,   reviewed and analyzed documentation for independent radio communications  projects at DOJ and DHS to identify actions the departments are taking to  improve their radio communications systems,   reviewed and analyzed past and present agreements among the departments to  determine the extent to which a governance structure is in place that enables  effective collaboration, and   compared collaboration activities performed by the departments to selected  practices previously identified by GAO as helpful to sustaining collaboration Objective, Scope, and Methodology  among federal agencies. While DOJ, DHS, and Treasury had originally intended IWN to be a joint radio  communications solution to improve communication among law enforcement agencies,  IWN is no longer being pursued as a joint development project. Instead of focusing on a  joint solution, the departments have begun independently modernizing their own wireless  communications systems. While DOJ and Treasury (and later DHS) collaborated on a  pilot demonstration of IWN in the Seattle/Blaine area that continues to provide service to  multiple agencies, the departments have determined that this specific system design  cannot be implemented on a nationwide scale, and they have not acted collaboratively to  identify an alternative approach for a jointly coordinated communications solution. In  addition, the formal governance structure that was established among the three  departments has been disbanded, and the contract for developing a new IWN design,  awarded over a year and a half ago, is not being used jointly by the departments for this  purpose. Currently, DOJ is planning to implement a nationwide network for its component  agencies, and DHS and its components are pursuing numerous independent solutions. A primary reason why the collaboration on a joint communications solution has not been  successful is that the departments did not effectively employ key cross-agency  collaboration practices. Specifically, they could not agree on a common outcome or  purpose to overcome their differences in missions, cultures, and established ways of  doing business; they have not established a collaborative governance structure with a process for decision making and resolving disputes; and they have not developed a joint  strategy for moving forward. While DHS considers improving radio communications at the  nation’s borders to be a major priority, DOJ’s priorities are in other areas. Program  officials from both departments acknowledged that differing priorities led to an inability to  resolve conflicts. As a result, they now have several initiatives aimed at high-level  coordination, none of which are focused on developing a joint communications solution. Department officials have indicated that they have not made any progress on re- establishing a joint governance structure and decision-making procedures for a joint  communications solution. In abandoning collaboration on a joint solution, the departments risk duplication of effort  and inefficient use of resources as they continue to invest significant resources in  independent solutions. Further, these stovepipe efforts will not ensure the interoperability  needed to serve day-to-day law enforcement operations or a coordinated response to  terrorist or other events. The Congress should consider requiring that the Departments of Justice, Homeland  Security, and Treasury collaborate on the development and implementation of a joint  radio communications solution.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) was intended to be a collaborative effort among the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Homeland Security (DHS), and the Treasury to provide secure, seamless, interoperable, and reliable nationwide wireless communications in support of federal agents and officers engaged in law enforcement, protective services, homeland defense, and disaster response missions. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which the three departments are developing a joint radio communications solution. To address this objective, GAO reviewed and analyzed relevant documentation and interviewed department officials about the extent to which they are collaborating with the other departments on IWN or an alternative joint radio communications solution.

What GAO Found

The Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and the Treasury had originally intended IWN to be a joint radio communications solution to improve communication among law enforcement agencies; however, IWN is no longer being pursued as a joint development project. Instead of focusing on a joint solution, the departments have begun independently modernizing their own wireless communications systems. While the Departments of Justice and the Treasury (and later the Department of Homeland Security) collaborated on a pilot demonstration of IWN in the Seattle/Blaine area that continues to provide service to multiple agencies, the departments have determined that this specific system design cannot be implemented on a nationwide scale, and they have not acted collaboratively to identify an alternative approach for a jointly coordinated communications solution. In addition, the formal governance structure that was established among the three departments has been disbanded, and the contract for developing a new IWN design, awarded over a year and a half ago, is not being used jointly by the departments for this purpose. Currently, the Department of Justice is planning to implement a nationwide network for its component agencies, and the Department of Homeland Security and its components are pursuing numerous independent solutions. A primary reason why the collaboration on a joint communications solution has not been successful is that the departments did not effectively employ key cross-agency collaboration practices. Specifically, they could not agree on a common outcome or purpose to overcome their differences in missions, cultures, and established ways of doing business; they have not established a collaborative governance structure with a process for decision making and resolving disputes; and they have not developed a joint strategy for moving forward. While the Department of Homeland Security considers improving radio communications at the nation's borders to be a major priority, the Department of Justice's priorities are in other areas. Program officials from both departments acknowledged that these differing priorities led to an inability to resolve conflicts. As a result, they now have several initiatives aimed at high-level coordination, none of which are focused on developing a joint communications solution. While department officials have signed an updated memorandum of understanding related to coordinating their radio communications projects, they have not made any progress on reestablishing a joint governance structure and decision-making procedures to address the challenges of collaborating on a joint communications solution. In abandoning collaboration on a joint solution, the departments risk duplication of effort and inefficient use of resources as they continue to invest significant resources in independent solutions. Further, these efforts will not ensure the interoperability needed to serve day-to-day law enforcement operations or a coordinated response to terrorist or other events.