The
Technology
Draft:
testing players for
the big league
A Safe Skies test engineer monitors throughput
of a checked baggage EDS
n December 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office
We constantly hear about new
technologies that are designed to
ease our travelling experiences I
(GAO) conducted a hearing on their latest study of the
Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) performance.
The TSA had allegedly “failed” a number of covert red-team
tests, conducted by the GAO to exploit the susceptibilities of
airport security. The ensuing media and congressional
reaction was as to a betrayal of trust. After being assured of our
while enhancing security, but it is safety, and acquiescing to the TSA’s changing security protocols,
we, the enduring general public, felt comfortable boarding an
rare that we ever see new airplane. Was our trust misplaced? Are all the efforts that the
government is making for naught? What are we doing wrong?
technologies deployed in airports The problem is that we’re not “wrong,” per se, which is a difficult
concept to convey to a concerned public. Faced with the “clear
on a widespread scale. We are told and present danger” of terrorist plots and attacks, people don’t
have the patience for politically measured speeches about
they are “Being Tested.” In the “improvements” and “pilot programmes”. The “Danger” is
“Present and Clear”, so shouldn’t the time to act be “Now”? The
United States, all technologies with logic seems obvious enough. But yell “Fire” in a crowded theatre
and tell me that was a good solution. If we reacted with such
the potential for airport deployment reptilian instinct to the terrorists’ threats, we’d end up with greater
inherent problems, rendering ourselves, ostensibly, weaker than
undergo a rigorous, but necessary, when we began. So, for the sake of moderation, let’s take a deep
breath, gather our senses, and explore, rationally, the processes
testing cycle. Anna Hamilton involved in advancing aviation security.
Ideally, any new technology can live the American Dream, rising
explains the technology testing from rags to riches as a supplier to the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). A promising young device can come to the
process, and why it is a benefit attention of the government in any number of ways – via
unsolicited proposals or responses to published requests. If the
rather than a hindrance to the proposed technology has the potential to fulfil a documented need
or meet an operational requirement (e.g., improve security,
evolution of airport security. increase throughput, enhance efficiency of resources, mitigate a
10 April 2008 Aviationsecurityinternational
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