Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking $10 million in its FY ’18 budget to continue it outreach to Silicon Valley companies to bring innovative technologies to its front line agents.
The agency has two priorities in its budget request under the Commercial Technology Innovation Program, one is to begin a commercial technology Border Situational Awareness program, and the other is to solicit for border security technologies such as “next generation Border Patrol agent equipment,” according to language in CBP’s budget request to Congress last Tuesday.
The Border Situational Awareness program is for the development and piloting of commercial technologies aimed at securing operational control of the border, potentially at lower cost. Possible technologies include commercial satellite imagery, new analytic software, “`on demand’ drone technologies” and new sensors, CBP says.
Under the second priority, which continues the use of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)Silicon Valley Other Transaction Solicitation (OTS), CBP expects to issue solicitations for next-generation Border Patrol agent equipment, and continue efforts under existing solicitations and an FY ’17 Seamless Travel solicitation.
If there is leftover funding available in FY ’18, the agency will explore commercial technologies that can support its trade office in efforts to anti-dumping and countervailing duties.
The DHS Science and Technology Directorate in the fall of 2015 established its Silicon Valley Office in an attempt under the Obama administration to tap into innovators that don’t typically work with the federal government. The department also established the Other Transaction Solicitation to make it easier for these companies to work with the government by speeding the solicitation and award process.
Previous funding for CBP’s participation with the Silicon Valley Office came from S&T but the budget request says the agency needs to provide additional resources to sustain existing efforts and pursue new ones. Through April, CBP has made nine awards under the program, with more awards pending.
So far the technologies that CBP has contracted for using the OTS include novel handheld radar technology, specialized unmanned aircraft system interface for law enforcement, and entity resolution techniques for risk analytics. CBP also says its Border Patrol agents and field operators have shown “substantial buy-in” with the rapid contracting effort.