Information Sharing Environment

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) identified a breakdown in information sharing as a key factor contributing to the failure to prevent the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In response to the 9/11 Commission's Recommendations, the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Section 1016 of the Act called for the creation of an Information Sharing Environment and defined it as "an approach that facilitates the sharing of terrorism information." The Act required the President to designate a Program Manager for the ISE and establish an Information Sharing Council to advise the President and the Program Manager.

The ISE Implementation Plan for the Information Sharing Environment sets forth the following vision:


 * A trusted partnership among all levels of government in the United States, the private sector, and our foreign partners, in order to detect, prevent, disrupt, preempt, and mitigate the effects of terrorism against the territory, people, and interests of the United States by the effective and efficient sharing of terrorism and homeland security information.