Kansas' New Homeland Security Education Center

It's great to see this kind of collaborative effort:

Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda and Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, Director of Kansas Homeland Security and the adjutant general, announced the opening of a new homeland security education center in Topeka Wednesday.

The Eisenhower Center for Homeland Security (HLS) Studies...is a collaborative public/private initiative that will support local and state government and private sector homeland security partners.

Designed as a one-stop shop for homeland security activities, initiatives and best practices for all of Kansas, the center is planned to serve as a classroom, simulation center, and as a rapid set-up situational awareness facility for assisting with large-scale disaster response.

Over the next year, a variety of classes, seminars and exercises will be offered exploring subjects such as individual and organizational disaster preparedness, homeland security situational awareness, information sharing, and basic homeland security principles. The multi-agency multi-discipline approach will utilize computer-generated simulations to allow public officials, private industry partners, non-governmental organizations and elected officials to experience and discuss the challenges faced during natural and manmade disasters, including terrorism.

Currently, the Eisenhower Center for Homeland Security Studies is partnered with more than 20 government agencies, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and private industry partners.

The thing I like most about this is the way it attempts to include private industry. There's still a lot of apprehension about information sharing across the public-private sector divide.

It's really nice to see Kansas trying to breach that divide by getting everyone in the same room.