Homeland Security official asks experts to call him anytime.

Byline: Reid Kanaley

PHILADELPHIA _ An official from the White House Office of Homeland Security Monday asked 900 wonks from government, the military, law enforcement and the private sector to call him directly with ideas for battling terrorism at home.

"Reach me by picking up the phone and calling the White House, and they will put you through," said Steven I. Cooper, chief information officer for the Homeland Security office, at the Government Symposium on Information Sharing and Homeland Security.

The conference, going on through Wednesday at the Marriott in Philadelphia, is also a forum for more than 100 companies to peddle security hardware, satellite phones and software to government agencies.

Cooper told the assembled experts that much remains to be learned in the post-Sept. 11 world as the government searches for effective ways to gather and share intelligence and to avert _ or respond to _ future terrorist attacks.

"It's about all of us together figuring out how to share information," Cooper said during a keynote address. He said it was "terribly, terribly important that we listen to everybody ... not just those inside the Beltway."

Cooper said his agency would, in the next few weeks, set up a Web site to showcase effective measures for sharing emergency information undertaken by state and local governments and other groups.

Cooper is the former chief information officer for Corning Inc. He was hired five months ago by Tom Ridge, Homeland Security director and former Pennsylvania governor.

Organizers of the conference, the Government Emerging Technology Alliance _ a division of Small Business Council Inc., a trade group _ produced a similar event in January as part of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, a huge Las Vegas exposition for showcasing new gadgets. Another show is planned for the Consumer Electronics Show in 2003.

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(c) 2002, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

Homeland Security official asks experts to call him anytime.

Byline: Reid Kanaley

PHILADELPHIA _ An official from the White House Office of Homeland Security Monday asked 900 wonks from government, the military, law enforcement and the private sector to call him directly with ideas for battling terrorism at home.

"Reach me by picking up the phone and calling the White House, and they will put you through," said Steven I. Cooper, chief information officer for the Homeland Security office, at the Government Symposium on Information Sharing and Homeland Security.

The conference, going on through Wednesday at the Marriott in Philadelphia, is also a forum for more than 100 companies to peddle security hardware, satellite phones and software to government agencies.

Cooper told the assembled experts that much remains to be learned in the post-Sept. 11 world as the government searches for effective ways to gather and share intelligence and to avert _ or respond to _ future terrorist attacks.

"It's about all of us together figuring out how to share information," Cooper said during a keynote address. He said it was "terribly, terribly important that we listen to everybody ... not just those inside the Beltway."

Cooper said his agency would, in the next few weeks, set up a Web site to showcase effective measures for sharing emergency information undertaken by state and local governments and other groups.

Cooper is the former chief information officer for Corning Inc. He was hired five months ago by Tom Ridge, Homeland Security director and former Pennsylvania governor.

Organizers of the conference, the Government Emerging Technology Alliance _ a division of Small Business Council Inc., a trade group _ produced a similar event in January as part of the annual Consumer Electronics Show, a huge Las Vegas exposition for showcasing new gadgets. Another show is planned for the Consumer Electronics Show in 2003.

___

(c) 2002, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.