DHS lays out six-point research plan for airport, passenger, and freight security technology

WASHINGTON, 21 Nov. 2013. Research leaders at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington are releasing a six-point plan to focus research attention and money on technologies to safeguard the United States from terrorist threats to trade and travel.

The plan involves the DHS Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which share common security and threat-detection technology goals, DHS officials say.

The HSARPA/TSA Strategic Plan seeks to focus DHS technology-development resources on the six areas that have the best potential to improve airport security, transportation security and other parts of the nation's travel and trade infrastructure.

The six areas named in the HSARPA/TSA Strategic Plan are:

-- enhancing the detection performance of security screening systems;
-- automating and integrating passenger security screening processes to make the process of boarding commercial passenger aircraft less painful than it is today;
-- developing risk-based and intelligence-driven passenger and baggage screening technologies;
-- developing flexible security solutions that enable TSA personnel to respond quickly and efficiently to emerging threats;
-- applying science and technology breakthroughs to improve airport passenger security; and
-- applying science and technology breakthroughs to improve intermodal transportation security.

Enhancing the detection performance of security screening systems involves improving how TSA officers characterize emerging threats; improving screener performance; improving test and evaluation; and optimizing the performance of deployed security systems with emerging technologies.

Automating and integrating passenger security screening involves increasing passenger convenience; using enhanced technologies in risk-based and intelligence-driven screening; developing ways to adjust quickly to changing threats; making broad use of behavior-based targeting, screening, and analysis protocols and tools; and improving data processing and decision making.

Risk-based and intelligence-driven passenger and baggage screening technologies will involve standardized technology for airport and transportation security systems; making broader use of behavior-based detection capabilities; and enhancing trace detection systems.

Applying technology breakthroughs to airport security involves improving threat mitigation and response capabilities; enhancing the threat-detection capabilities of specially trained dogs; improving checked baggage technology; and reducing false alarms in security equipment.

Applying science and technology breakthroughs to improve intermodal transportation security involves improving blast mitigation; improving behavior detection and biometric identification technologies; improving surveillance and anomaly detection; improving interoperable information systems; improving high-throughput threat detection; enhancing system resilience and recovery; improving remote disruption of attack capabilities; and improving freight tamper prevention and detection capabilities.

The HSARPA/TSA Strategic Plan will help guide HSARPA in its pursuit of innovative transportation security capability solutions, DHS officials say.

The full text of the HSARPA/TSA Strategic Plan in .pdf form at https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=de77ee3d7af8091c45b07feaeddc2cbd.