http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/25001-1.html
Wireless exits possible for U.S. Visit
02/19/04
By Wilson P. Dizard III,
GCN Staff
The Homeland Security Department is considering wireless technology for
the exit phase of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator
Technology program, a senior DHS official said today.
"We are looking at a wireless device to run the watch list" at exit
points, said Shonnie Lyons, Increment One manager for U.S. Visit. He
spoke at a lunch meeting sponsored by the Association for Federal
Information Resources Management.
DHS already is operating two exit kiosk pilots, one at
Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the other at a cruise
line port in Miami.
"One of the issues, we know, is that people won't stop by" to use
the kiosk, Lyons said. For example, some travelers leaving the country
wouldn't understand signs directing them to the exit kiosk.
"We are looking to a mobile device to be used at the [airport] gate
or security" checkpoint, Lyons said. "Once we select the preferred
option, we will deploy it in the December [2004] to January time frame
over a period of four to six months."
Unisys Corp. now operates the exit kiosk pilots under its contract with
the Transportation Security Administration, but responsibility might
shift to the integrator chosen this summer for U.S. Visit, officials
said.
Other officials at the AFFIRM meeting said U.S. Visit is identifying
about three travelers on watch lists each day at airports and sea ports
nationwide. In contrast, during a pilot at John F. Kennedy International
Airport in New York last year, the system tagged about 10 travelers
daily. James Jeffers, project manager for the U.S. Visit Coordination
Desk, said officials believe the bad guys have gotten the word that U.S.
Visit will catch them.
"We are trying to convince our oversight bodies that the reduction in
hits is not a systems problem," U.S. Visit CIO Scott Hastings said.
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