The homeland security enterprise and public works: improving the relationship

Abstract

. The homeland security enterprise (HSE) attempts to support the United States through many national mission spaces. Public works supports cities and communities through fundamental services and infrastructure at local levels that millions of citizens use and rely upon. The relationship between the HSE and public works is not often addressed, but it needs to be further explored. There are both traditional and nontraditional areas of intersection that relate the HSE and public works together that require coordinated efforts. These include infrastructure, resiliency, cyberspace, supervisory control and data acquisition systems, industrial control systems, and even emergent concepts such as cyber-physical systems. A qualitative method of analysis was used on the three areas of intersection (national preparedness and resilience, cyberspace safety and security, and presumption of cyber-physical). Ultimately, the findings of this thesis found a mixture of results with three varying relationships: adequate, mediocre, and inadequate. This thesis answers the research question, How can the relationship be improved between the homeland security enterprise and public works? This thesis also includes three sub-questions: a) What are the areas of intersection between the homeland security enterprise and public works? b) Is the relationship between the HSE and public works adequate or inadequate within the areas of intersection? c) What are recommendations for the future relationship between the HSE and public works?