The 9/11 Commission Act provides that the mission of  NBIC is to enhance the capability of the federal government to:  rapidly identify, characterize, localize, and track a biological event of  national concern;  integrate and analyze data relating to human health, animal, plant, food,  and environmental monitoring systems; and    disseminate alerts to member agencies, and state, local, and tribal  governments. Prior to the passage of the 9/11 Commission Act, two presidential  directives charged federal agencies to coordinate federal efforts and  create a new biological threat awareness capacity to enhance detection  and characterization of a biological attack. DHS, in cooperation with other federal agencies, created the BioWatch  program in 2003 to detect the release of airborne biological agents. The  BioWatch program deploys detectors which collect data that, when  analyzed, can be used to identify biological agents on the BioWatch threat  list. OHA has  responsibility for managing the operations of the BioWatch program. S&T,  which is the primary research and development arm of DHS, is responsible  for developing detectors for the BioWatch program. DHS Has Made Progress in Making NBIC Fully Operational by the Mandated September Deadline, but Faces Difficulties Completing Key Tasks

DHS has made progress making NBIC fully operational by September 30,  2008, as required by the 9/11 Commission Act, but has faced difficulties  completing some key tasks, such as defining what capabilities the center  will provide once fully operational, formalizing agreements to obtain  interagency coordination, and fully implementing its IT system. NBIC is working to establish additional coordination efforts to enhance  NBIC’s integration capabilities. For example, member agencies  will not have full access to the IT system until NBIC employees have been  trained to use the system. Progress Has Been Made, but It Is Unclear What Capabilities NBIC Will Have by the September 30, 2008, Deadline

DHS has made progress making NBIC fully operational by the mandated  September 30, 2008, deadline; however, it is unclear what operations the  center will be capable of carrying out at that point. NBIC has not yet defined the capabilities the center should have in order  to be considered fully operational. Since the new NBIC Director started in January 2008, NBIC has organized  interagency working groups and has finalized MOUs with 6 of the 11  agencies that NBIC identified as important to the operational needs of the  center. Second, DHS is asking agencies  to sign ISAs that formalize the technical exchange of information, such as  data on human health, between NBIC and these agencies. NBIC Recently Upgraded Its IT System, but Additional Work Remains

A contractor DHS hired to enhance NBIC’s IT system delivered an upgrade  to the system in April 2008; however, NBIC officials stated that they need  to complete additional work before granting member agencies full access  to the system. DHS Has Two Ongoing Efforts to Improve the BioWatch Technology, Which May Decrease Detection Time or Increase the Number of Agents That Can Be Identified

DHS has two ongoing efforts to improve the detection technology used by  the BioWatch program. S&T is developing a new technology. The  current technology collects air samples which are periodically manually  removed from the equipment and taken to a laboratory for analysis, a  process that could take 10 to 34 hours. Operational testing and evaluation of this technology is scheduled for  April 2009, about a year later than initially planned because OHA provided  S&T with revised functional requirements about 4 months before S&T was  scheduled to complete the Generation 3.0 prototype detector. While S&T is completing is work on the Generation 3.0 detectors, OHA is  developing an interim solution to enhance the detectors currently in use  by adding the capability to automatically analyze air samples for some  biological agents. OHA’s interim technology, known as Generation 2.5, is  intended to add the capability to automatically analyze air samples for the  same number of biological agents currently monitored by the existing  BioWatch detector technology. Further, OHA officials stated that they plan  to operationally test and evaluate new prototype detectors beginning in  November 2008 and to acquire over 100 of these new detectors, contingent  on successful completion of operational testing and evaluation.
Why GAO Did This Study

The United States faces potentially dangerous biological threats that occur naturally or may be the result of a terrorist attack. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is developing two major initiatives to provide early detection and warning of biological threats: the National Biosurveillance Integration Center (NBIC), a center for integrating and coordinating information on biological events of national significance, and the BioWatch program that operates systems used to test the air for biological agents. The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 requires DHS to establish a fully operational NBIC by September 30, 2008. This statement discusses the status of DHS's efforts to (1) make NBIC fully operational by the mandated deadline, and (2) improve the BioWatch program's technology. GAO's preliminary observations of these two programs are based on our ongoing work mandated by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 to review U.S. biosurveillance efforts. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed related statutes; federal directives; and DHS planning, development, and implementation documents on these two initiatives. We also interviewed DHS program officials to obtain additional information about NBIC and BioWatch. DHS reviewed a draft of this testimony and provided technical comments, which were incorporated as appropriate.

What GAO Found

DHS has made progress making NBIC fully operational by September 30, 2008, as required by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, but it is unclear what operations the center will be capable of carrying out at that point. DHS has acquired facilities and hired staff for the center but has not yet defined what capabilities the center will have in order to be considered fully operational. DHS has also started to coordinate biosurveillance efforts with other agencies, but DHS has not yet formalized some key agreements to fulfill NBIC's integration mission. For example, DHS has signed memoranda of understanding with 6 of 11 agencies DHS identified to support the operations of NBIC. However, DHS has not yet completed other key agreements to, for example, facilitate the technical exchange of information, such as data on human health, between NBIC and the agencies. In addition, a contractor DHS hired to enhance NBIC's information technology system delivered an upgrade to the system on April 1, 2008, intended to enhance data integration capabilities. However, before this upgrade can be used effectively, DHS officials said that NBIC will need to train its employees to use the system and negotiate interagency agreements to define the data that the agencies using the system will provide. DHS officials expect that NBIC will complete the training in early 2009. DHS has two ongoing efforts to improve the detection technology used by the BioWatch program, which deploys detectors to collect data that are then analyzed to detect the presence of specific biological agents. First, the Directorate for Science and Technology (S&T) within DHS is developing next-generation detectors for the BioWatch program. DHS plans for this new technology to collect air samples and automatically test the samples for a broader range of biological agents than the current technology. Under the current system, samples are manually collected and taken to a laboratory for analysis. DHS plans to operationally test and evaluate the new automatic technology in April 2009 and to begin replacing its existing detection technology in 2010. Operational testing and evaluation of the new technology is planned to take place in April 2009, about 1 year later than DHS initially planned, because S&T officials received revised requirements for the new system about 4 months before S&T was scheduled to complete development of the system. Second, while S&T is completing its work on the new detection technology, DHS is developing an interim solution, managed by the Office of Health Affairs, to enhance its current detection technology. This interim solution is intended to automatically analyze air samples for the same number of biological agents currently monitored by the BioWatch program. Contingent on successful operational testing and evaluation that is to start in November 2008, DHS plans to decide whether to acquire over 100 of these enhanced detectors.