The Airports Council International (ACI) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) this month signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pool resources for the development of the Checkpoint of the Future, which has been renamed Smart Security (SmartS).
The name change to SmartS reflects the start of a new phase of pilot testing of new airport checkpoint technologies to see how well they work together in an operational environment, according to the two associations. SmartS also reflects the new collaboration between ACI and IATA along with “strong participation of governments and other key industry stakeholders,” they said.
“SmartS is the way forward,” Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, said at the association’s annual global media day in Geneva. “A lot has been learned from the component tests conducted over the last two years. It forms the foundation for us to move confidently into the next phase of the development.”
As with IATA’s original Checkpoint of the Future concept and development, the goal of SmartS is to minimize inconveniences to travelers as they move from the curb to boarding, with security resources and screening driven by risk. The original Checkpoint of the Future Concept envisions different levels of screening based on what is known about travelers as they transit through the checkpoint, with individuals deemed to he higher risks receiving more screening attention while lower risk passengers receive somewhat less attention.
The broad categories for testing SmartS in 2014 include lane configuration and automation, remote screening, large electrical items in bags, body imaging security scanners, and unpredictable measures and steps toward risk-based differentiation, according to Paul Behan, head of Passenger Experience at IATA. Behan also presented at the global media day.
Improving security lane configuration and automation enables passengers to “divest more efficiently,” according to Behan’s presentation, allowing for maximization of the rate at which bags and trays are funneled through X-Ray machines. He also said that state-of-the-art X-Ray systems combined with advanced detection algorithms will minimize divesting, technology that “is within reach.”
Work on the body imagers that are already found in many airports is aimed at improving throughput rates to be more efficient for passenger processing. Regarding risk-based differentiation, this can be accomplished in the near-term through the use of behavior detection officers and the use of rules and categories, but additional security could be obtained by being smarter about unpredictability, according to Behan’s presentation. This unpredictability includes “switching of equipment sensitivity and algorithms used on the X-Ray and body scanners,” according to the presentation.