Information Sharing Partners
The CUI Framework was created to improve the sharing of information, specifically within the Information Sharing Environment (ISE). The vision of the ISE is a trusted partnership among all levels of government in the United States, the private sector, and our foreign partners, in order to detect, prevent, disrupt, preempt, and mitigate the effects of terrorism against the territory, people, and interests of the United States by the effective and efficient sharing of terrorism and homeland security information.
The three primary non-federal ISE partners are:
- state, local, and tribal governments
- private sector entities
- and foreign entities
The CUI Framework is not mandated for State, local, tribal, private sector, or foreign entities. However, having a common framework with all partners will improve information sharing and non-federal ISE partners are encouraged to adopt the CUI framework.
State, Local, Tribal
As our Nation's first "preventers and responders," State, local, and tribal governments are critical to our efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks and to respond if an attack occurs. They must have access to the information that enables them to protect our local communities. The Executive Branch must also utilize the State, local, and tribal partners’ knowledge about their communities. The CUI Framework must support an effective and efficient multi-directional flow of information to appropriately integrate State, local, and tribal partners. In recognition of the importance of receiving input from these non-federal partners, the CUI Council includes two state, local, and tribal government representatives.
Private Sector
The private sector is a crucial element of the Information Sharing Environment (ISE). The private sector owns and operates a signification portion of the Nation’s infrastructure and resources, and therefore is critical to our Nation's physical and economic security. An effective CUI Framework will be one that is developed to instill confidence with private sector partners that the information they provide about the resources they own and operate will be appropriately protected. It must also clearly provide information to these partners to enable them to prepare and protect the Nation’s infrastructure and resources. The CUI Framework must ensure a two-way flow of timely and actionable information between public and private partners. In recognition of the importance of receiving input from these non-federal partners, the CUI Council includes private sector representatives.
Foreign Partners
Strong and effective cooperation with our foreign partners is a vital component of the global war on terrorism. Given the often sensitive nature of the information shared, we will continue to enter into agreements and other understandings with foreign governments to ensure appropriate security and confidentiality of exchanged information. We must also expect that foreign governments will seek the same assurances from our Nation. We must strive to ensure that safeguarding and handling restrictions are calibrated to maximize both the quantity and quality of information shared with, or received from, a foreign government.
