Posted by Secretary Janet Napolitano


Today, I spoke with 25 DHS employees from across the country who were selected as the winners of the ThinkEfficiency Campaign. I’m happy I had the chance to thank them for their commitment and dedication to helping the Department find smart, creative ways to save money and better accomplish our mission. I enjoyed answering their questions and hearing about new ways to improve efficiency throughout DHS.

Their ideas were selected out of the 1,600 ideas submitted by DHS employees nation-wide and from every Component. They proposed common-sense ideas that will improve day-to-day operations. For example, their ideas ranged from changing the way we purchase intelligence services, aviation maintenance services, and vehicle repair services by leveraging the purchasing power of the department to sharing unused software licenses and identifying DHS-wide solutions to improve the utilization of firearms training facilities.
Based on these ideas, we will implement initiatives across the Department this month which will result in tens of millions of dollars in savings.

Through the Efficiency Review, other Department-wide efforts, and component initiatives, DHS has identified more than $1 billion in cost avoidances and implemented 36 efficiency initiatives across the agency. Behind each of these initiatives are the employees like the ThinkEfficiency Campaign winners from across DHS who propose efficiency ideas, implement them, and fundamentally change the way the Department operates.

Get more information about the Department’s Efficiency Review