As key components of an open government strategy, the Efiia Group has capitalized on the intersection of the Open Government Initiative and information sharing. This strategy supports the mission of strengthening the United States Government’s biodefense capabilities through heightened sharing of biosurveillance information with state, local, tribal, and territorial partners.

Information sharing breaks barriers within government and external to government, connecting federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector stakeholders utilizing concepts rooted in information sharing environments. To operate effectively in the global homeland security environment, collaboration and cross-boundary approaches must be used in both the public and private sectors.

A key concept in information sharing is “crowdsourcing”, in which data collection is enhanced by the collective wisdom of crowds and the general population. This provides flexibility, adaptability, and situational awareness in the homeland security community.

Web 3.0 improves individual and organization productivity by keeping decision-makers informed. It enables spontaneous community engagement, keeping participants connected to the information and people that impact their efforts. It is a secure, mobile-enabled collaboration environment that integrates with existing systems to help users

Find high-value information across silos,
Connect with experts across various disciplines, and
Collaborate with cross-agency and public-private communities.

Crowdsourcing features – such as tagging, posting, rating, and following – provide interactive feedback that builds participant credibility and incentivizes contributions of higher-quality reports and information. Customizable interfaces automatically surface popular or important content most relevant to each user, ensuring timely access to high-value information that supports agile decision-making. Single sign-on support for government-issued credentials and the most rigorous security measures in the industry promote trusted information exchange. Microsoft SharePoint compatibility provides participating organizations the ability to leverage existing information management investments.

The Efiia Group has actively applied Open Government and Web 3.0 concepts in various creations, supporting timely and relevant issues such as biopreparedness, biosurveillance, emergency response, and social network collaboration.