Use of Social Media for Border Security

There are many problems associated with defending our Southern Border, some technological, some political, and some that just deal with social behavior of the workers.

Policy
One of the largest problems facing government organizations is aging policies.  There are many policies in place that prevent interaction among government agencies, one of them deals with the "need to know".  There are a few factors that affect a person's access to sensitive data to of which are the individual's security clearance (the level of trust placed in the person by the government) and their "need to know".  Just because an individual has the proper clearance doesn't mean they have the "need to know" the information.  This policy is starting to change, beginning with the National Director of Intelligence creating the A-Space program for intelligence analysts to share their thoughts and collaborate with peers across the many organizations that  make of the Intelligence Community.  This policy is very limiting with respect to social media utilization.

Politics
In some cases there is still an us vs. them mentality when it comes to government agencies.  Agencies don't want to share information because it may give a competitive advantage to a "competing" agency.

Another political obstacle along the border deals with political differences between countries.  To effectively combat the human and drug trafficking across our Southern border, we need to work with Mexican officials.  How do you effectively share information with a foreign government when you have difficulty sharing with other US Government agencies?

Social
Along the political lines, how do you know if you can trust other agency officials or counterparts from foreign countries such as Mexico if you don't have an interpersonal relationship built?

Technology
The technology problems associated with collaboration along the border are somewhat easier to address although still a challenge.  How do you secure the collaborative environment, keeping out the "bad guys" while allowing the "good guys" to effectively communicate and share ideas?

I'll begin to address some of these challenges over the next several weeks of class.