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Going with the flowHelping border agencies to exploit technology convergence to gain consistent, comprehensive and automated border management
With a growing traveling population and the virtualization of physical borders, the need to better facilitate legitimate trade and travel, prevent illegal immigration or identity fraud and tighten security measures at land, sea or air border crossings around the world is undisputed. Indeed, early in 2013, the European Union identified a need for the “next generation of border checks” with a proposal for a European Union entry/exit system. The proposed system would monitor travel flows and movements of third-country nationals across the external border for the Schengen area as a whole—an initiative that has positive implications for data sharing across the region and frequent travelers. The complexities of Europe’s multiple borders are not the only consideration, however. In the United States, the nation is wrestling with a proposed Senate bill which outlines dramatic revisions for existing immigration processes and requirements;1 further evidence of a fundamental shift in the approach to border management.
Technology convergence could be the saving grace in such changing times. By fully exploiting the benefits of digitization—that is, the use of automated technology— border agencies can not only accelerate and ease the movement of travelers, but also gain a consistency and completeness in border management that helps to identify security threats, reduce fraud and better support immigration programs.
Why entry/exit systems?Although several countries have
already begun to tackle the issues
of entry and exit, being able to tie
together data on when someone
has entered a country and when
they left is currently lacking. For
instance, at present in Europe entry
and exit records cannot be matched
when persons leave the Schengen
area through any other Member
State than the one from which they
entered and in which their entry
was recorded. Due to the absence
of collaborative systems, statistics
about border crossings are limited,
but according to the most recent
data provided by the European Union
Member States there were 669
million external border crossings in
2009, 675 million in 2010, and 700
million in 2011, including European
Union citizens and third-country
nationals. And those numbers,
especially at the largest and busiest
border crossing points, have been
increasing and are expected to
continue to do so in the future.2
While many European countries
have entry/exit systems in place—
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia
and Spain—these systems often
have limited information gathering
capabilities and do not enable
information sharing, rendering
the data less useful in the context
of broader traveler behavior
and movement. Indeed, a lack
of interoperability, for instance
between immigration systems, can
have considerable repercussions.
If successful entry programs often
lack consistency and integration
with other systems, then the
dearth of data and its consequent
insight gap is even larger in the
context of monitoring exits. This
absence of concrete facts is not
lost on government officials in the
United States. Since April 2011,
the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) has taken action
to address a backlog of potential
overstay records that the U.S.
Government Accountability Office
(GAO) previously identified.3 As
of June 2013, DHS’s unmatched
arrival records totaled more
than 1 million. In July 2013, GAO
reported that it had recommended
that DHS assess and document the
reliability of its data, and establish
timeframes and milestones for
a biometric air exit evaluation
framework; DHS concurred with
the recommendations. Knowing
which visitors have overstayed on
the one hand has vital implications
for security. On the other hand,
an exit system that accounts
for overstayers and helps avoid
expending limited border resources
on travelers who have already left
the country can improve the overall
integrity of border systems and
provide a major deterrent to
illegal entrants.
In short, the availability and
completeness and consistency
of information, coupled with
automated processes that are
adapted to meet the individual
needs of diverse borders, can
transform border management.
The case for entry systemsAccenture has helped plan and
implement numerous entry
systems and supports the three
largest biometric identity systems
in the world. Our work with the
U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) United States Visitor
and Immigrant Status Indicator
Technology Program, known as
3
1 http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703931404578595950049794128.html?mod=BOL_twm_fs#articleTabs_article%3D12 Source: EES impact assessment part 1 v4.pdf3 http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-13-683
US-VISIT, helps to establish and
verify the identity of travelers to
the United States. Today, US-VISIT
is helping to secure borders by:
•Performing searches across more
than 140 million unique identities
in seconds.
•Returning ID matches in less than
10 seconds.
•Identifying, on average, 5,000
illegal visitors and 2,500
immigration violators every day.
Facilitation is at the heart of such
entry programs—making it easier
for travelers to enter a country,
providing border officers with
the right information in a timely
way to make effective decisions.
In addition, analyzing biometric
data can free up valuable and
skilled resources to focus on more
strategic intelligence-led border
control tasks, while simultaneously
increasing the capacity of a
busy airport’s immigration halls.
Yet while it is important that
facilitation is not impeded, it
is only one part of the story—
adopting a creative approach
that enables border agencies to
confer across geographies and
modalities and automating those
borders with the highest number
of travelers is the means to achieve
the greatest efficiencies. Such an
approach demands the balanced
view of an integrated entry and
exit system—highlighting exit
systems as the missing ingredient
in understanding the “big picture”
of border management.
The case for exit systemsAlthough reliable data on the
number of irregular immigrants
currently staying in the European
Union does not exist, it is clear
that only a small proportion of
overstayers are identified. Similarly
in the United States, every year,
approximately 85 million distinct
travelers enter the United States
via airports, 210 million travelers
cross at approximately 163
United States land border ports,
and 10 million travelers enter via
30 seaports. An effective exit
program could close the loop on
the United States visitor lifecycle,
providing immigration and border
security officials with a complete
picture—one that will ultimately
aid in distinguishing visitors from
potential security threats and
illegal workers.
Assessments undertaken by
Accenture in 2009 in the United
States indicate the potential
viability of air and land exit
systems. In a voluntary air exit
system pilot, more than 30,000
aliens out of 500,000 travelers
were biometrically processed and
just one person of that number
refused to cooperate. The effect
on average boarding time was
negligible; at most two minutes
and eight seconds was added to
the traveler journey time. What
is more, from 93.4 percent of
selected international flights, there
was no conclusive impact to flight
departure time.
Unlike at airports and sea ports,
minimal formal processes and
infrastructure currently exist to
manage departing travelers at land
ports. Each year, there are more
than 300 million crossings into
the United States at roughly 170
land border ports with Canada and
Mexico. While monitoring who
enters and exits is of paramount
importance to the United States’
national security and the integrity of
its immigration system, controlling
the 7,500 miles of land border is
no easy or inexpensive task. The
result of the Accenture assessment
was a recommendation for a cost-
conscious, segmented approach
that balances port volumes and
configurations, transportation
modalities, compliance and security.
In addition, any comprehensive land
exit solution needs to be consistent
with other travel-related encounters
(such as visa issuances), use an
informed-compliance solution
model where in-scope travelers
are educated and expected to
self-report as they exit, and
continue to use fingerprint
scans as the primary biometric.
4
5
Help travelers move efficiently through borders with a system that is fast and inclusive
Six steps to succeedFor an entry/exit program to succeed, it needs to minimize effects on travelers and other stakeholders as well as
provide a high level of integrity in data collection and processing so that decision making and law enforcement
efforts are as efficient as possible. Specific goals when implementing an entry/exit system include:
Be intuitive, with a minimal learning curve and proper outreach
Focus on security that aids the officer and a system that is accurate, spoof resistant, and offers a “point of no return”
Use cost effective deployment models that lower total cost of ownership, improve throughput and reduce footprint
Adopt an approach that is privacy conscious, secures information, and complies with relevant laws and policies
Be adaptable to changes in policy, adversarial strategies, and technological trends
6
Efficient exit systems help to:
•Identify overstays with greater certainty to increase
national security by enabling more efficient
enforcement activities that do not expend resources
on travelers who have already left the country
•Improve the integrity of existing border crossing
systems and provide a major disincentive for
travelers who illegally cross borders (if they know
they will be checked on exit)
•Avoid biographic mismatch or the use of fraudulent
documents by travelers
•Deliver an accurate record of all future visitations
and help support the expansion of key border
management programs
•Strengthen economic competiveness, improve
national security, and modernize immigration
7
The way forwardThe case for entry and exit systems—and the many and varied benefits around achieving consistency, completeness and automation in border management—is a strong one. Digitization is helping to accelerate the flow and reliability of information that is at the heart of the border verification processes. In particular, biometrics can be used as an enabler to track entry/exit in an efficient and rapid manner—essential for coping with high traveler volumes and making life easier for frequent travelers who do not wish to repeat the verification of their details. According to the proposed European entry/exit system, alphanumeric data will be used initially with biometrics phased-in after three years, while the periods being recommended for data retention are six months for ordinary travelers or five years in the case of overstayers. These new “smart border” enhanced systems can provide a single, centralized source of data that helps to realize benefits such as increased traveler satisfaction through expediting the process for frequent travelers.
Accenture believes that both entry and exit systems are fundamental to better manage and protect external borders and strengthen the economy, resulting in border management that is fit for the 21st century.
About AccentureAccenture is a global management consulting,
technology services and outsourcing company, with
approximately 266,000 people serving clients in more
than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience,
comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the
world’s most successful companies, Accenture
collaborates with clients to help them become
high-performance businesses and governments.
The company generated net revenues of US$27.9
billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012.
Its home page is www.accenture.com.
ContactsTo find out more about entry/exit systems and their
impact on border management, please contact:
Mark Crego
Managing Director, Accenture Border
and Identity Services
+1 571 286 8389
Moniesha Jackson
Accenture Border and Identity Services
+1 571 414 3860
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