Homeland security summit, Washington D C 2004-06-02--04

The "Homeland Security Summit & Exposition" occurred in Washington D.C, on 2-4 June 2004. It was organised by the McGraw-Hill Group. A great number of highly qualified lecturers participated. The Dept. of Homeland Security and relevant Federal Authorities were largely represented at intermediate level; hence the comments of these persons often were overwhelmed by more critical voices. At the conference an interesting interactive game was presented, describing larger, coordinated terrorist attacks against the US. The game was realistic, aroused interest among the participants and sometimes gave rather unexpected answers and reactions to questions posed and decision situations presented to the participants. The game contributed much to the understanding and insight of the participants. The market for industries producing "Homeland Security" equipment and other relevant products in the US is quite large, this year about USD 50 billion, estimated to rise to about 120 billion by 2015. The report proposes the arrangement of a game of similar type in Sweden, mostly aimed at a target group consisting of the Swedish Government and relevant Agencies and Authorities. In the longer run, it may be possible that a conference similar to this one will be organised in Europe.