Airport securityBiometric solutions to bolster security at U.S. airports
World events over the last decade—and even in the last year—have shown that airports are an attractive target to terrorists. At the same time, the number of international air travelers is increasing. More than 119 million international travelers arrived in fiscal year (FY) 2016, an almost six percent increase from FY 2015 and over a 35 percent increase since FY 2009. It is estimated that international arrivals will continue to grow at more than four percent annually. In this changing security landscape, finding effective and scalable solutions to increase security and efficiently process travelers is imperative. The need is critical and will only grow as many airports are already operating at or near capacity.
World events over the last decade—and even in the last year—have shown that airports are an attractive target to terrorists. At the same time, the number of international air travelers is increasing. More than 119 million international travelers arrived in fiscal year (FY) 2016, an almost six percent increase from FY 2015 and over a 35 percent increase since FY 2009. It is estimated that international arrivals will continue to grow at more than four percent annually. In this changing security landscape, finding effective and scalable solutions to increase security and efficiently process travelers is imperative. The need is critical and will only grow as many airports are already operating at or near capacity.
S&T says that DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is helping U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) find new technologies and advanced processes to meet its mission to protect the U.S. homeland. S&T provides support by evaluating biometric collection technologies, algorithm evaluations, and conducting experiments to identify processes and technology to accurately and efficiently track the entry and exit of traveling persons. S&T is at the leading edge of helping to solve complex mission challenges by finding new and innovative technology to improve operations.
In fact, JetBlue and other airlines are currently piloting programs at U.S. airports to replace boarding passes with biometric technologies. Some of CBP’s technology selections and planning for these pilots were based directly on S&T assessments.
S&T conducted assessments at its Maryland Test Facility as part of its Apex Air Entry/Exit Re-Engineering program (known as AEER), which develops, tests, analyzes and assesses technology solutions. Now that CBP is moving into operational projects, portions of the Apex AEER program are moving into the Homeland Security Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) Port of Entry – People Screening program (POE-PS).
