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The budget's not all that changing in the United States these days. Some of the adjustments are minor tweaks, while others reflect a major change in the way the government does business.

Recent legislation is opening the doors for public safety organizations to do more in the wireless broadband realm. Among the benefits is improved collaboration among emergency service organizations and additional dollars that will be spent to improve communication capabilities.

The National Capital Region, comprising Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, is one of the busiest, most powerful and hence most complicated areas in the United States when it comes to security. Cathy Lanier, chief of police, District of Columbia, and James F. Schwartz, chief, Arlington County Fire Department, Virginia, emphasized that cooperation and coordination are essential no matter the size of the municipality or the threats it faces.

Amazing anecdotes kept the audience entertained during the lunch session at the AFCEA International Homeland Security Conference. The experts were speaking about a serious subject: cyberwar. But the stories about their hands-on experience in learning how to fight cyberwars, how they've fought cyberthreats and what they believe is needed to prepare future cyberwarriors kept conference attendees enthralled.

In a time when government agencies and industry must tighten their belts, it may be a cloak that saves the security day. AFCEA International Homeland Security Conference, panelist Tim Kelleher, vice president of professional services, BlackRidge Technology, shared details about his company's approach to stopping cybermarauders in their recon tracks.

Paul A. Schneider, former deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), kicked off the AFCEA Homeland Security Conference this morning by stating that not enough revenue has been allocated in the U.S. budget to fight all the cyberthreats, which are some of the most critical dangers facing the nation today.

Responding to an emergency is just as crucial--and as technically complicated as--preventing one. Members of the final panel for the DHS 2012 Information Technology Industry Day discussed the importance of communications capabilities to mitigate the effects of a manmade or natural disaster and restore normalcy to an area.

Richard Spires, chief information officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, kicked off DHS Industry Day by declaring that it is time to find the balance between the IT needs of individual DHS agencies and leveraging IT throughout the department as a whole. The department needs to take a "shared first" approach to commodities and then look at unique technologies the individual agencies need.

Although not claiming victory, the DHS has made some serious headway in improving cybersecurity, according to panelists discussing the topic at the DHS 2012 Information Technology Industry Day in Washington, D.C. Experts said the threats have not disappeared but rather have changed, and various DHS agencies have been learning how to better handle them.

Chief information officers from throughout the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had words of advice for companies that want to do business with them at the DHS 2012 Information Technology Industry Day. Among the top topics were the need for agile acquisition and acquisition of agile products, the call for information about the return on investment on the products companies offer, and changes in procurement strategies that could have a huge effect on how the government and commercial sectors interact.