The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has awarded General Dynamics [GD] a potential three-year, $13.3 million contract for Phase II of the Security Technology Integrated Program (STIP), an agency-wide information technology program aimed at connecting all of the screening equipment on one network.
The initial award is for one year and is valued at $4.7 million. The contract contains two additional options.
Under Phase II GD will be working to continue integrating the nation’s transportation security equipment and expand the existing STIP system that was developed and deployed in Phase I. Raytheon [RTN] did the Phase I STIP work, which called for the development of initial networking capabilities (TR2, July 12, 2006).
That initial work by Raytheon has proven the concept of being able to create a network that allows data to be pulled from a variety of checkpoint screening equipment, Dr. Rodger Dickey, an aviation security consultant and former TSA security technology official, said last month during a webinar hosted by our sister publication Defense Daily. He said that STIP had been integrated into several airports allowing data to be processed either real-time or later to provide greater situational awareness for security operators.
The transportation security equipment refers to the screening equipment typically found at the nation’s airports, including explosives detection systems for screening checked bags, explosives trace detector, Advanced Technology X-Ray machines, Advanced Imaging Technology, Bottled Liquid Scanners and future equipment.
The purpose of the STIP network is to facilitate the exchange of information from all the machines with the people that use them, procure them and service them, Mark Magee, vice president for Homeland Security Initiatives at GD’s Advanced Information Systems business unit, tells TR2. The program will improve security, resource management and the operational effectiveness of security systems that are deployed, he says.
One of the capabilities that GD will be working on is remote maintenance management, which will allow TSA to monitor the health of security equipment remotely to check on what needs to be serviced, Magee says. There is currently a baseline capability here and GD will expand it, he says. And as the various security technology vendors supply TSA with new equipment, GD will help make sure the equipment can connect to the network, he adds.
The work GD will be doing under STIP is software related, not hardware. Throughout the life of the contract the work GD does will be similar but will entail expanding the connections and upgrades to more equipment and more airports, Magee says.
The STIP work is GD’s first systems integration contract with TSA. Magee says the work GD does will be based on open architectures so it isn’t proprietary to his company, thus allowing other contractors to work on STIP.
Dickey said that the open architecture promise of STIP is a critical component of achieving a future security system that allows for the integration of orthogonal technologies and common displays from multiple sensors. In this vision that Dickey calls “dynamic screening,” security officials have the ability to assess risk to permit the appropriate level of screening for passengers, baggage and cargo. While “dynamic screening” is how Dickey describes his 2010 vision security screening, he said it tracks well with his former TSA colleagues, TR2, Sept. 1.