input: [Action Item Number] 5.1.B [Action Item Name] Improve Intelligence Exchange and Information Sharing [Lead Agency] DOJ [Component(s)] OCDETF [Action Item Description] 
output: Although progress has been made since September 11, 2001, in enhancing information sharing, there is much more to be done. . Read more Federal agencies must foster an improved, faster exchange of information with State and local governments; this means a two-way exchange. Local officials need to know what happens to investigative leads they provide to Federal partners and need to see reporting from national authorities that affects the safety and security of their jurisdictions. Federal agencies must work together to ensure that criminal databases include all relevant information, are up to date, and are easily accessible by appropriate local authorities. In recent years, the development of national and State and urban area fusion centers, enhancement of EPIC, and NDIC’s Field Intelligence Officer program, as well as increased dissemination of secure methods for distributing classified information (e.g., via the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNET) have created new opportunities and new challenges. Fusion Centers must be interconnected and resources leveraged to avoid duplication of effort. For example, the OCDETF Fusion Center has expanded the number of participating Federal agencies to strengthen its fused database and leverage existing systems to further serve the national effort to attack organized crime. As directed in the 2009 Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy (Southwest Border Strategy), Federal agencies will commit additional analytical personnel to supplement existing intelligence exchange.