Opportunity at the Borders

Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Paul Rothman

Technology comes into play

Bush's Secure Border Initiative (SBI) may have opened the flood gate on potential security business opportunities along the southern border. The opportunities come in the form of SBInet — a component of SBI assigned to Customs and Border Protection that is responsible for integrating personnel, infrastructure, technologies and rapid-response capability.

SBInet aims to combine existing investments and current security initiatives with new technologies. While SBI focuses more on the comprehensive strategy of border control and immigration enforcement, SBInet's need to integrate technology into border enforcement applies directly to the security industry.

“The industry has been waiting for this for years,” says Matt Farr, Homeland security analyst for research firm Frost and Sullivan. “When the Department of Homeland Security was formed, it was not the windfall that people in the security industry were expecting. The industry is really jumping up and down over this one.”

Already, five defense contractor-led conglomerates have put in bids for the estimated $2 billion SBInet contract. Each of the defense contractors — including Raytheon, Northrop-Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Ericsson — has already or is expected to form a team with smaller security companies to provide the needed technology.

The smaller companies can, for example, apply to be on one of the defense contractor's teams. The Raytheon Web site makes this offer: “Small and minority-owned businesses that have the unique capability to help Raytheon are encouraged to apply to join our team.” An interested company may fill out an extensive form explaining its technology and how it would add value to the overall SBInet solution.

The SBInet project as a whole calls for using computer networks, ground sensors, robotic aircraft, satellite imaging and other technologies to link together the hodgepodge of federal, state and local entities that operate with varying authority along the borders with Mexico and Canada.

“It requires the right mix of personnel, technology and rapid response capability to secure our border,” says Michael Friel, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Department of Homeland Security plans to award its first contracts by Sept. 30, Friel says.

Technology proposals

Once the DHS has awarded the umbrella contract for a comprehensive systems integrator, it is likely that smaller security companies will flock to offer their range of surveillance and sensor technologies.

But the DHS is not interested in simply buying “gizmos,” Deputy Director Michael Jackson said at an industry conference in January.

“This is not about bleeding-edge technology,” Jackson said. “Time is short. Demand is big. The problem is large. We're impatient, and we're going to get on with this. We're putting a priority on things that work — with proven methods, techniques and technologies.”

One such proven border technology is the infrared camera, which exposes threats hidden in the darkness, concealed by adverse weather, and veiled by obscurants like dust, fog and smoke that easily blind other technologies.

“Thermal imaging is a valuable tool that enhances safety and operational effectiveness,” says Andy Teich, president of FLIR Systems, Billerica, Mass., a thermal imaging camera manufacturer. “Camera networking technology is one example of a development at FLIR that supports border security. With intelligent video processing, the software recognizes humans, and allows each camera to act as a set of eyes that never blink. This reduces the number of camera operators and the fatigue associated with watching several cameras.”

Thermal imaging is one example of the various technologies a security company could offer to SBInet. Here is another example: Distributed Instruments, Sterling Heights, Mich., has developed a surveillance sensor network powered by a chain of aerostats — or tethered balloons — to provide a broadband wireless network for sensor data and surveillance platforms for digital video. The sensors can be integrated with a chain of ground sensors that enable listening devices and other monitors.

Story Quick Links

• Bush's SBI Plan at a Glance
• Border Security by the Numbers
• Contractors in the Running
• Citizens on Patrol the Texas technology plan
• Barriers On the Fence
• Protecting our Borders A Resource Guide

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