INT: US Government builds up electronic borders
eGovernment News â 02 June 2004 â United States/Global â Identification & Authentication
The US Government has appointed a consortium led by consulting firm Accenture to further develop and implement the US-VISIT programme, designed to secure US borders using an electronic entry/exit management system and biometric technologies. This programme, which will help bring US border control systems and procedures in the digital era, means tougher requirements for Europeans crossing the Atlantic.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced on 1 June 2004 the appointment of the 'Smart Border Alliance' consortium to design and implement the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) programme. Led by consulting and IT services firm Accenture, the alliance comprises a number of major corporations including Raytheon, the Titan Corporation, SRA International, Dell, AT&T or Sprint. Under the contract, it will help develop and implement a new automated entry/exit system to be deployed at the nation's more than 400 air, land and sea ports of entry. The system will provide the capability to record the entry and exit of foreign citizens to the United States, to verify the identity of incoming visitors and to confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. To this end, it will collect biometric data at the ports of entry by either capturing digital finger scans and photos or by reading data from machine-readable biometric travel documents, and then check this data against several law enforcement and counter-terrorism databases. The objectives of the programme are to enhance the security of U.S. citizens and visitors, expedite legitimate travel and trade, ensure the integrity of the immigration system, and safeguard the personal privacy of visitors and immigrants.
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