In this issue of The Business of Government magazine, we survey the intersection where leadership, complex challenges, and the need for transformation meet.

In this issue of The Business of Government magazine, we survey the intersection where leadership, complex challenges, and the need for transformation meet. Whether it’s in the response to the global financial crisis, the national deficit, or the myriad of other pressing issues facing us, uncertainty seems boundless while constraints on resources are very real. It is within this context that we’ve assembled a varied group of government executives and thought leaders who are focusing on these problems and working to mitigate their effects.

“The DHS mission, as we all know,” notes Dr. Nick Nayak, DHS chief procurement officer, “is to ensure that the homeland is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other potential threats and hazards.” This cannot happen without acquiring critical and necessary services and supplies from outside the department. It also requires that the department pursue a focused acquisition and procurement strategy that aligns resources with DHS strategic objectives. The mission of Dr.

From transforming the National Airspace System to managing homeland security resources, educating today’s information leaders, and transforming governmentoperations, these executives clarify and extend our understanding of the work they champion and the efforts they lead. The nation stands on the verge of a new era in aviation. The National Airspace System is one of the largest and safest in the world. It is also one of the busiest.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued its first-ever Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) that delineates a strategy focusing on five mission priority areas for the homeland security enterprise. “Mission one is preventing terrorism and enhancing the security of the country.

This issue includes conversations with Mayor Martin O'Malley, Clay Johnson III, and the Nation's First Homeland Security Team; leadership profiles of W. Ralph Basham, Marion Blakey, Johnnie Burton, Rose O.Parkes, Roberto Salazar, Gwendolyn Sykes, Ambassador Randall L. Tobias, Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., and Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.; a forum on Transforming Government; a Management piece on Sean O'Keefe at NASA, and research report abstracts.

Daniel B. Prieto has worked for two decades in the private sector, government, and academia at the intersection of technology, public policy, and national and homeland security issues.  He is Vice President and lead for IBM's Public Sector Strategy & Innovation consulting practice.  He also leads corporate development and thought leadership campaigns in the areas of "smarter government", cybersecurity, homeland security, and healthcare for IBM’s U.S. Public Sector division.

Decisions based on bad information can lead to poor results and be quite costly to organizations. This may culminate in the squandering of opportunities, taking on unnecessary risk, misallocating resources, and ultimately not achieving strategic goals or objectives.