DHS Publishes ISAO Meeting Notice – 5-18-16

Today the Department of Homeland Security published a public meeting notice in the Federal Register (81 FR 23506-23507) for a two-day meeting in Anaheim, CA on May 18^th, 2016. The meeting will support the establishment of Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAO) in accordance with EO 13691.

The first day of the meeting will be limited to the ISAO Standards Organization and its six working groups. The second day will the public forum for the discussion about an initial set of draft documents that will focus on the needs of those seeking to join or form an ISAO and should be released for public comment by early May on the ISAO web site.

Seven questions will be addressed during the public discussion:

• What needs to be considered by a newly-forming ISAO and what are the first steps?

• What capabilities might an ISAO provide?

• What types of information will be shared and what are some mechanisms for doing so?

• What security and privacy is needed for a newly-forming ISAO?

• What mentoring support is available for newly-forming ISAOs?

• What government programs and services are available to assist ISAOs?

• What concerns do regulators and law enforcement have about the new ISAO construct?

The DHS also be soliciting written comments on the draft documents and the above questions. Comments may be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.Regulations.gov; Docket # DHS-2015-0017). There is some confusion about when such comments should be submitted. The notice states that the comments should be received by November 14^th, 2015, but that is obviously a hold-over from a previous notice. The Portal notes that the comment period is closed on this notice. This may be clarified when the Standards Organization posts the draft documents.