DHS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DHS - Essay Example The DHS has several internal arms that contribute to the functioning of the organization such as Science and Technology, and the Office for Civil Rights and Civil liberties. These arms have been created for the sole purpose of serving DHS's mission. In addition, several independent agencies have departments that work in conjunction with the DHS and report to the Secretary. These include the Secret Service and the Coast Guard. This model assures greater cooperation between diverse independent organizations as they relate to such issues as immigration, border security, and search and rescue. The DHS states that its mission is to "prevent and deter terrorist attacks and protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the Nation" (Strategic plan, 2008, p.3). This mission refers to deterring and responding to terrorist attacks of any kind, as well as responding to natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. This can benefit the agency because many of the methods and resources needed to respond to a terrorist act are also applicable to a natural disaster. However, it runs the risk of compromising the agencies to be a 'one size fits all' organization, and not doing either task as well as should be expected. There is an additional benefit in that the agencies fall under one Secretary, which should make management, budgeting, and communications more efficient and effective. Adequacy of the DHS Agencies The inclusion of the Civil Rights and Liberties Office as part of the DHS may be a conflict of missions. The agency's mission is to assist "our dedicated colleagues to secure our country while preserving our freedoms and our way of life" (Office for Civil Rights, 2009). This is a self-policing function that would be better served by an outside, and independent, agency. In addition, there are various agencies that address patrolling the border, customs, and immigration. These agencies may create tension due to conflicting or duplicitous roles and might be more effective if they were consolidated under one department (Cutler, 2005). The Counter-Narcotics Enforcement Department is also an agency whose function is redundant with the DEA, and is additionally difficult to justify their inclusion in Homeland Security, except to interrupt terrorist's cash flow. Missing from the organization are units that could more effectively address domestic terrorism. Animal rights, ecology, and global t rade are issues that generate extreme responses against society and DHS would be more efficient if they had their own intelligence and prosecution agencies represented. Evolution of the Organization Since March 2003, the DHS has abolished some of the initial departments that were later incorporated and dispersed into other agencies. This has streamlined the organization, which now has fewer agencies whose responsibilities are broader. For example, plant and animal disease, environmental analysis, and medical counter-measures were initially addressed by single dedicated agencies. These now have been absorbed into the Office of Science and Technology. In addition, the responsibilities for infrastructure protection have been dispersed throughout various departments within the DHS. These actions have helped

Dynamic Content Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Dynamic Content Management - Essay Example The basic operation of a Web content management system was set out clearly in the 1990s by the then MIT (now Harvard) database expert Philip Greenspun (2003). CMS is defined as those: â€Å"principles and practices around developing, managing, maintaining, and deploying (web) content in an organization† (Nakano, 2002) CMS concerns itself with the organizational tasks, goals and roles which lead to high quality content and accurate, attractive, useful websites which are easy to use. The average organisation's Web site or intranet has anywhere between one thousand and one million pieces of content. By the time the organisation has reached this size, it has a substantial Web content management challenge. What is a Web Content Management System? From Cascading Style Sheets through XML, has now evolved into the web CMS environment, where USD6.4 billions is expected to be spent by 2007 according to IDC. In a Web Content Management system the design and presentation of content on a Web page is separated from the content creation process. This is because Web pages and links can be dynamically generated from information held in a database. TerminalFour’s Site Manager is an example of a commercial off the shelf product which has found favour with commercial, public and academic sectors. By making use of XML (extensible Mark up Language), a CMS can also allow content that is stored in the database to be repurposed for different devices such as mobile phones, handheld computers, kiosks and Web TV as well as PCs.