Integrative Exam Question - January 2004 - Prepared
by Frank Field
Background
The US Department
of Homeland Security has recently initiated the US-VISIT program, screening
all visitors to the United States at its borders (see U.S.
Begins Screening Program for Monitoring Foreign Visitors, January
6, 2004 and World
Opinion Is Fragmented on Tighter Security for Visitors, January 7,
2004, both from The New York Times).
Key features of this screening process are (purported
to be) a digital
fingerprint capture/record technology and the taking of a digital
photograph, to be tied to physical identification materials (passports/visas) via a large information system. As the DHS
press release states:
US-VISIT requires that most
foreign visitors traveling to the U.S. on a visa have their two index
fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken to verify their identity
at the port of entry. The US-VISIT program will enhance the security of
U.S. citizens and visitors by verifying the identity of visitors with
visas. At the same time, it facilitates legitimate travel and trade by
leveraging technology and the evolving use of biometrics to expedite
processing at our borders.
"US-VISIT represents the
greatest improvement in border inspection in more than three decades,
and is a shining example of what we can achieve when government works
together," said Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary of Border and
Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland Security.
"US-VISIT is actually a continuum of security measures that begins
overseas, at the U.S. consular offices issuing visas, where biometrics
will be collected to determine if the applicant is on a database of
known or suspected criminals or terrorists. When the visitor gets to
our border, we use the same biometrics - these digital "fingerscans" -
to verify that the person at our port is the same person who received
the visa or to see if we have learned new information about any
involvement in terrorism or crime. This type of identity verification
helps our Customs and Border Protection Officers make better
admissibility decisions and enhances the overall integrity of our
immigration system."
The Department of Homeland
Security today also began a pilot test of exit procedures for departing
passengers holding visas. A departure confirmation program using
automated kiosks is being tested at Baltimore-Washington International
Airport and at selected Miami Seaport cruise line terminals. Foreign
visitors exiting the United States from those locations will be required
to confirm their departure at the kiosk. US-VISIT officials will
evaluate the tests and consider alternatives to the automated kiosks for
departure confirmation throughout 2004.
Congress has mandated that an
automated entry-exit program be implemented at the 50 busiest land ports
of entry by December 31, 2004, and at all land ports by December 31,
2005. A Request
for Proposal (RFP) was issued in November to engage the private
sector to help the US-VISIT program develop the optimum solutions for
entry and exit processing. The contract will be awarded in May 2004.
Problem Statement
Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary of Border and
Transportation Security of the DHS, has asked you to consider a subset
of the issues that the US-VISIT program will face in the pursuit of its
mission. Note that the above-referenced RFP includes a Mission
and Vision for the program in Section C.1: Mission and Vision of the
US-VISIT Program (pp. 8-10).
In anticipation of receipt of the proposals in response to
this RFP, the Under Secretary is assembling a set of analysts to develop the
bases upon which these proposals will be evaluated. You are
one of these analysts, and you have been tasked with considering the
implications of Section C.5.3 of the statement of work: Unique
Information Technology Challenges (pp. 20-21). Section
C.5.3 outlines the scope of the problem that the contractor will be
expected to resolve in terms of consolidation of a host of information
collection systems into a single instrument for managing the transit of
visitors across the "virtual border" of the United States.
You have been tasked with writing a
"white paper" that will outline what the necessary elements of a
solution to the issues raised in Section C.5.3 must contain, with
particular emphasis upon how to identify the elements that will be
required to maximize the likelihood that the contractor will succeed in
meeting the objectives of this Section from a technical and
organizational perspective while satisfying the policy goals outlined in
the mission statement.
Ground Rules
-
The white paper should be no more than 10 double spaced
pages in length
-
The focus of the paper should be upon the issues raised in
Section C.5.3 from the perspective of the implementation of this task in
the face of the policy objectives and organizational complexities.
-
How will the Under Secretary know a good approach from a
bad one?
-
What are the hallmarks of such approaches?
-
Upon what do you base these determinations?
-
The technological issues should be discussed from the
perspective of an informed, technically competent engineering policy
analyst, rather than that of an IT professional. Others will be
tasked with preparing the purely IT assessment guidelines. Rather,
you should focus upon issues of complexity, system limits,
organizational boundaries, etc. (Please: no discussions of the benefits
of the 3rd normal form, T3 lines or strategies for achieving
transactional integrity)
-
In principle, you should
require no further research materials other than those that can be
accessed through the links supplied here. This is not a
question directed at finding out how much you can learn about the
various information systems cited; rather, the objective is to see how
well you can characterize what you see are the necessary elements of a
good approach based upon what you know already.
Good luck!
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