Securing the nation is a multifaceted challenge that involves close collaboration among border security, public safety, law enforcement and first responder agencies.  Achieving the objectives of homeland security requires coordination across levels of government and jurisdictions, as well as international collaboration to prevent and detect threats.  IBG provides homeland security customers with services and solutions in areas as diverse as intelligence & analysis, counter-narcotics enforcement, emergency management and border protection.  IBG draws upon experience in evaluating technology for visa issuance and threat detection at ports of entries, assessing port security implementations, and conducting information security and privacy impact assessments.  IBG understands the needs of homeland security personnel, from first responders to search and rescue teams, to customs & immigration officers, to border patrol agents and coast guard units. 

Approach

IBG's approach for addressing homeland and border security challenges is grounded in proven methodologies and frameworks used in past projects including privacy risk assessments, policy analyses, surveillance application evaluations, and feasibility studies.  Leveraging over a decade of experience and a solid foundation in biometrics and identity management, IBG understands the operational requirements of first responders, as well as other users in the public safety and critical infrastructure communities.  IBG solutions leverage enhanced data sharing and analysis capabilities, tracking technologies, information analysis tools, and identity protection technologies. 

IBG understands that problems in homeland and border security require solutions that are practical and adaptable to varied environmental conditions.  For example, a border security application should be designed accounting for:

• Changes in weather
• High-throughput vs. low-throughput border crossings
• Differences in land, sea and air ports of entry

IBG's background in scientific and technical research allows it anticipate operational gaps, and define roadmaps for achieving goals by applying technology, policy and business rules.  IBG leverages tools originally developed for private sector use, applying them to homeland security business processes to improve workflow and efficiency. 

Solutions

IBG's services and solutions for homeland security and border security applications include:

• RDT&E (Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation)
• Product certification
• Intelligence analysis and vulnerability assessment
• Feasibility studies
• Privacy Impact Assessment
• Requirements engineering
• Border Entry/Exit System Architecture Review
• Technology Roadmap Review
• Policy analysis and assessment
• ID Management systems integration
• Operations research, workflow analysis and process optimization for operations centers
• Technology training for first responders
• Industry market research and reporting
• Technology commercialization for first responders and public safety practitioners
• Portable incident communications systems
• Disaster recovery and business continuity planning

Clients

IBG provides services and solutions to various homeland and border security clients.  For the White House Offices of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), IBG evaluated the use of U.S. visa issuance and at U.S. ports of entry to detect national security threats.  For the Tranporation Security Administration (TSA), IBG developed a framework for evaluating biometrics in large-scale, mission-critical air travel applications such as employee access control, registered traveler programs and airport surveillance.  IBG also served as the test facility for the TSA's Qualified Product List (QPL) for biometric sub-systems for airport access control.  IBG recently completed research on differential synthetic biometric sample and template generation through the DHS S&T SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program. 

Representative clients include:

• DHS S&T (Department of Homeland Science & Technology) Directorate
• Department of State
• TSA (Transportation Security Administration)
• CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency)
• White House OSTP (Office of Science and Technology Policy)
• HKSAR ImmD (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Immigration Department)
• Government of Malta