Top Programs that Keep America Safer

Five Finalists for Prestigious Homeland Security Award

Washington, DCMitretek Systems and the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government have selected the five finalist programs for the prestigious Mitretek Innovations Award in Homeland Security. The programs are as follows:

Medical Reserve CorpsAmerican citizens volunteer to improve emergency preparedness and response in their communitiesDepartment of Health and Human Services.

LifeTracnew technology that directs an emergency medical system to identify emergency room availability and hospital diversion coordinationBirmingham, Alabama Regional Emergency Medical Services System.

Palanterraa real time common operating picture of physical features and geographically referenced activities referred to as geospatial intelligenceNational Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

Statewide Mass Decontamination Systema fire service and public health system that protects every community and every hospitalMassachusetts Department of Fire Services.

Model for Homeland Security and Disaster Responsea cutting-edge technology-based system that improves data sharing and collaboration and bridges disparate databasesNorfolk, Va. Information Technology Department.

The Mitretek Innovations Award in Homeland Security seeks to identify, explore, and highlight creative and effective government and public-private partnership solutionsand the leaders behind themto the nations homeland security concerns. The criteria for this award assume that the "best practices" to be adopted in the future are emerging from practitioners operating in the field today.

The recipient of the Mitretek Innovations Award in Homeland Security is determined by a distinguished national panel o f experts in the field of homeland security, chaired by Judge William H. Webster. From a broad field of national applicants, five finalists for the Award are selected and subjected to a site evaluation. Representatives of each finalist program will make presentations to the national selection committee at Harvard on April 18, 2006. The announcement of the winner of the Award will be made in the Summer of 2006.

The Mitretek Innovations Award in Homeland Security represents an important collaboration between Mitretek Systems, a nonprofit scientific research and engineering corporation that operates in the public interest, and the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, sponsor of the Innovations in American Government Awards.

Mitretek Systems is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), scientific research and engineering corporation that operates in the public interest. Mitretek applies expertise in conjunction with objectivity and independence to address challenges of national significance in areas such as homeland and national security, healthcare, energy and environment, and transportation.

The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government fosters excellence in government around the world in order to generate and strengthen democracy. Through its awards program, research, publications, curriculum support, and global network, the Institute champions critical milestones and effective governance and democratic practice.

Links:
www.mitretek.org
www.ksg.harvard.edu/
www.HomelandSecurityInnovations.org