Ten Years After 9/11

In the ten years since 9/11, there has been measurable progress in protecting the nation against terrorism and other threats to our national security. Zoë Baird Budinger, President of the Markle Foundation, and Jeffrey H. Smith, a member of the Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, concluded in a recent Washington Post Op-Ed that, at a time when so many believe our government is unable to rise to new challenges, there is evidence in the fight against terrorism that, in fact, it can. 

Since 9/11, there has been a virtual reorganization of government, a new way of thinking that inspires reform in the way agencies, people, and technology collaborate and communicate. The virtual reorganization of government is a new way of thinking that is changing how agencies, people, and technology collaborate and communicate. The "need to know" culture of the Cold War is being replaced by the "need to share" principle. Information is increasingly decentralized and distributed. Informal and flexible groups of analysts from different parts of government and the private sector are able to work together and share expertise. 

The virtual reorganization that changed counterterrorism can also make a difference in other national interests, especially as economic and fiscal challenges heighten the need to reduce government's cost and improve its function.

Read Markle Task Force Reports	Read Markle Task Force Briefs