Transportation Security Administrator David Pekoske last Wednesday signed off on his agency’s latest roadmap, this one focused on open architecture to boost current and future technologies and supply latest opportunities to more vendors, increasing competition and innovation more rapidly.
The brand new roadmap is predicted to be published shortly, Pekoske told reporters last Thursday during a roundtable to debate his latest Administrator’s Intent document, which lays out how the agency plans to perform its strategic priorities in the subsequent two to 3 years. The roadmaps let stakeholders understand how TSA plans to realize its goals and objectives in a certain area.
TSA for the past few years has been deploying latest screening technology at its airport security checkpoints to scan carry-on bags. The agency is acquiring the computed tomography (CT)-based scanners from three corporations: Analogic, Integrated Defense and Security Solutions, and Smiths Detection.
About 30 to 35 percent of TSA’s screening lanes have the CT scanners, Pekoske said. At current funding rates, the agency will complete deployments of the technology in 2036, he has told Congress. The CT systems can be around for 20 years or so, he told reporters, highlighting that they can be a permanent technology.
A challenge with having multiple vendors providing CT systems is that all of them provide data in several formats. TSA would love for this data to be standardized, which might mean that as software upgrades are needed, they might be competed slightly than using the unique equipment manufacturer because the only option for the work, Pekoske said.
In 2018, TSA began requiring travelers to remove certain quantities of powders from their bags for extra screening on account of concerns about improvised explosive devices. If open architectures are a part of transportation security equipment, the goal could be to compete a software solution inside one to 3 months that may quickly analyze the powders for potential threats after which apply the answer across all of the manufacturers’ CT scanners, Pekoske said.
One other example where standardized data formats could be useful is allowing TSA to make use of common workstations on each CT system no matter manufacturer, which might simplify operator training, he said.
TSA under Pekoske has increasingly been emphasizing open architecture however the concept has not been a key feature in any of its acquisition programs. Later this yr, when TSA awards the subsequent tranche of checkpoint CT contracts, open architecture will likely be included as a requirement, Pekoske said.
Earlier contracts for the CT systems allow these units to be retrofitted with an open architecture framework, he said, giving TSA flexibility for future enhancements.