The Transportation Security Administration yesterday began seeking candidates to begin in June a 90-day, three-to-five-airport pilot test of the voluntary registered traveler concept announced last month. TSA issued a combined synopsis solicitation that gives private sector contractor teams until April 19 to detail "best terms from a technical, management and past performance standpoint" on their capabilities to handle nearly everything about the 5,000 to 10,000 participant Registered Traveler Pilot,
(BTN, March 29).
TSA's solicitation indicates that "the government would conduct security assessments," be responsible for "obtaining sufficient participants," and maintain a database of participant information on its own server equipment. It said the government "may or may not provide" a token or credential to enrollees. "Contractors must be able to incorporate biometric data on a government-issued card," TSA noted.
TSA said it would provide criteria and program objectives to contractor(s) that would take on program management, including planning and reporting; selecting, installing, operating and removing fingerprint and/or iris scan technologies for identification; gathering biometric information as part of participant enrollment; transferring data to the government and then to a token to be securely distributed to and carried by registered travelers; and cooperating with TSA, airports, air carriers and other third parties, in part to assess registered travelers at the airport as "go" or "no-go." Systems integration responsibilities would include the creation of an Oracle-compatible database, a mechanism to "turn off" lost or damaged tokens and a system to transmit traveler data over local-area, wide-area and wireless networks--all while maximizing integration, speed, data security and redundancy.
"The contractor must coordinate with TSA and supply all necessary personnel, materials, logistics, services and equipment to perform all requirements for and incidental to the performance of the Registered Traveler Pilot," according to TSA, which also noted that the contractor "will have no property rights to this data," which will "belong solely to the government." The security agency said it has not yet determined final locations for testing, which "will assess improvements in security and enhancements in customer service."