would be useful, such as how long it takes a victim to register or get an 

inspection after registration. 

Officials in EP&R's Recovery Division said that they are working to establish 

baselines this year against which to measure progress in reducing cost and 

time for delivering individual and public assistance.  However, until FEMA's 

systems can capture the underlying performance data, the agency will be 

unable to do so. 

Challenges in Aligning IT with Evolving DHS Direction

In addition to addressing the need to align its strategic and IT planning with 

DHS direction, EP&R faces the challenge of integrating its emergency 

management approach with several emerging departmentwide initiatives.  

Specifically, DHS implementation of the National Response Plan and the 

National Incident Management System created new requirements that will 

affect IT systems and processes.  Additionally, the DHS Chief Financial 

Officer's efforts to provide integrated resource management must be taken 

into consideration as EP&R moves forward in its approach to managing IT. 

Impact of the National Response Plan and National Incident Management 

System on EP&R IT 

The National Response Plan provides the framework for federal coordination 

with state, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private sector during 

disasters.  DHS implemented the National Response Plan in December 2004, 

according to the 

Homeland Security Act of 2002

 and 

Homeland Security 

Presidential Directive 5.

13

  The National Response Plan consolidates existing 

federal government emergency response plans into a single, coordinated plan 

to manage disaster response and recovery.  This consolidated plan replaces the 

Federal Response Plan, which FEMA previously used as the basis for 

organizing its response and recovery operations.  The new plan introduces 

changes to the organizational structure for disaster management operations, 

and will require software code updates to information systems.   

For example, the NEMIS Access Control System assigns access rights to users 

based on positions within the organization structure, which are defined in the 

former Federal Response Plan.  Moving to the National Response Plan has 

changed this organizational structure and, consequently, affected NEMIS 

Access Controls, requiring that new roles and rights be added to the system 

13

  Management of Domestic Incidents,  Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, February 28, 2003. 

Emergency Preparedness and Response Could Better Integrate Information Technology  

with Incident Response and Recovery 

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