Homeland security plays a central role in ensuring the overall safety within the United States, but it is important to understand that there are intricate factors at play in regards to the general approaches utilized by a wide range of agencies. Although there are certain limitations in the overall implementation of dual-use safety systems, it is possible for the US Government to integrate such a system for both transportation and critical infrastructure protection. It is also important to add that homeland security is not solely maintained by the Department of Homeland Security. It is possible for the Director of the Office of National Intelligence to reverse the years of cultural differences between various intelligence agencies. In addition, border security is of paramount importance for preventing terrorism, but the current approach of heavy investment in physical barriers might not be the most effective approach.
It is possible for the United States Government to utilize dual-use systems to ensure the overall protection of both critical infrastructure and transportation systems. One should be aware that these aspects of homeland security are tightly interconnected, where the transportation system and critical infrastructure are functionally attached and joint, where the protective measure for one might mean that it is expandable for another. The most prominent example of dual-use technology is artificial intelligence or AI, which can be utilized for the protection of the given elements as well as to effectively improve the military implications. The duality is manifested in the fact that this system can be used to create a powerful shield to constantly monitor and supervise transportation and critical infrastructure systems, but it also can be used to actively disrupt the key components of these structures. The main reason is that AI is a set of algorithms, which can be technically created by anyone who possesses the expertise and knowledge in the field, and thus, it can be categorized as a dual-use technology (Pandya, 2019). AI can be a highly effective measure to prevent terrorism and other non-intentional hazards by predicting and eliminating the plausibility of these risks through mass-scale surveillance and big data assessments.
It is important to note that the general function of homeland security is not solely maintained by the Department of Homeland Security because there is a wide range of different actors at plays, which are critical in contributing to the given cause. In other words, the given function is shared by other governmental and non-governmental agencies. One of the most prominent examples of key elements of homeland security is border security. Homeland security cannot be properly and effectively ensured without the functionality of border security since the outside terrorist can come into a nation and cause harm. These risks need to be eliminated by having a strong border filter, where only non-hazardous individuals can be allowed in accordance with the law. The Department of Homeland Security is unable to ensure proper homeland security on its own without a massive contribution of border security efforts, which eliminate or reduce the influx of dangerous individuals or groups who seek to cause harm.
I believe that the Director of the Office of National Intelligence will be able to reverse the years of cultural differences between a number of intelligence agencies by introducing major cooperative measures through regulatory works and effective management. This can be achieved through a deliberate effort of enhancing the strategic importance of information integration and sharing among the agencies to the point where the operational guidelines will encourage such actions (“Challenges for the Intelligence Community,” 2011). In other words, the cultural differences can be difficult to overcome, but they are held by individuals and people in the position of power, such as heads of divisions, and they can be strategically replaced by those who are willing to promote cooperation and integration. One might even argue that breaching over these differences is among the key problems of the current state of intelligence agencies because information becomes unnecessarily trapped within one agency, which might be reluctant to share it with the others.
The United States Government is not doing enough to protect the borders of the nation because there was massive resource wastefulness in regards to prioritization of the effectiveness of the recent measures. However, border security in general plays a major and even top importance in regards to the overall prevention of terrorist attacks because it effectively eliminates or reduces the outside risks. It might not be useful for combatting the acts of domestic terrorism, but homegrown terrorism might be decreased because the foreign influencers are unable to immigrate and recruit the local population, let alone commit the crimes themselves. However, one should note that there are major shortfalls in regards to border security because the government is spending too much money on ineffective measures, such as physical barriers, instead of ensuring the proper analysis of the costs (U.S. Government Accountability Office, n.d.). In other words, the terrorists might exploit the fact that resources are being wasted on redundant efforts instead of properly assessed investments. One should be aware that there are a limited amount of resources as well as opportunity costs are always present, and thus, a waste of resources on mostly useless but politically driven measures poses a threat because it means that the government did not invest in effective strategies. It leads to the possibility of terrorist attacks, which were not sufficiently countered in regards to their prevention.
In conclusion, it is important to note that the United States Government can implement effective dual-use systems in order to protect both critical infrastructure and transportation by properly developing these measures. One of these systems is AI, which possesses a dual-use property since it can be utilized as a civilian tool for protecting the specified structures through mass-scale data processing and surveillance. It also can be used in the military by analyzing the acquired intelligence on potential hazards and threats, where AI predicts and prevents the occurrence of these events. Homeland security is not solely maintained by the Department of Homeland Security because border security is as important in preventing the influx of outside dangers, such as foreign terrorists and those who wish to cause harm through the facilitation of homegrown terrorism. In addition, one might argue that the Director of the Office of National Intelligence can overcome the decades of cultural differences between various intelligence agencies by ensuring cooperation and information sharing through proactive replacement of personnel as well as management because the culture is carried by people. The United States Government can do more in regards to its border security since there is evident resource wastefulness because large funds were dumped on physical borders without proper assessment of costs.
References
Challenges for the Intelligence Community. (2011). Web.
Pandya, J. (2019). The dual-use dilemma of artificial intelligence. Forbes. Web.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (n.d.). Border security and immigration. Web.