June
2018
Edition
Technology has an essential
role
to play
in
resolving the impasse.
Volume 24
US AS AN EARLY LEADER
Kevin Burke, ACI-North America President and CEO
The proposals were welcomed by ACI-North
America President and CEO Kevin Burke: “Addi-
tional officers are long overdue as CBP already
faces a severe staffing shortage of thousands of
officers across all of our air, land, and sea ports.”
CBP has long recognized the potential for
technology, expanding its Trusted Traveler
Programs, introducing biometrics, auto-
mating forms collection and eliminating
duplicative processes.
Certainly automated self-service passport
control kiosks (APC), mobile passport control
(MPC) and global entry kiosks have helped to
better secure and expedite travelers moving
through Federal Inspection Stations (FIS).
“This is a problem that will only get worse SITA has been in the vanguard of these
when stronger border-security measures fun- changes worldwide, with the US as an early
leader.
nel more traffic through these
ports.”
Filling the vacancies would
make an appreciable differ-
ence.
But with a continuing strong
increase in international
air travelers forecast for the
years ahead, and the levels
of hiring of CBP officers de-
pendent on shifting bud-
get priorities in Congress,
the problem cannot be ad-
dressed long-term simply
by hiring more people.
(We are rapidly moving toward a day when your fingerprint, iris or face will become
the only ID you will need for any number of transactions in a journey. It will be funda-
mental that any solution developed cannot be bespoke. It needs to work for multiple
airlines, easy to adopt within existing infrastructure, seamless for the passenger and
provide the highest degree of security without interrupting the passenger flow.) 38