GAO Upholds CBP Award to MacB for OTIA Support
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has rejected a protest by incumbent contractor Allied Technology Group (ATG) over an award by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to MacAulay Brown (MacB) to provide support services to the Office of Technology, Innovation and Acquisition. The award was originally made last December. MacB bid $53.9 million to provide the services while ATG bid $46.7 million for the potential four-year award. ATG’s bid was seemed satisfactory and medium risk on technical and management evaluations and superior based on past performance. MacB’s bid was deemed superior on past performance and good and low risk based on technical and management evaluations. GAO says that ATG challenged CBP’s evaluation of both companies’ technical approach, staffing plan and labor mix, and key personnel, as well as the agency’s cost/technical tradeoff and best value determination. GAO says that none of ATG’s provides a basis for upholding the protest.
CBP Awards Cherokee Nation Consulting $19M for Project Management
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has awarded Cherokee Nation Management & Consulting, LLC an $18.8 million contract to provide project management and program analysis support services. The various services include capital lease management, integrated schedule management, facilities program management, facility planning, priority identification, analysis of alternatives, project schedule management, logistics support, configuration management, construction management, and various program support and analyses.
Singapore Airport Selects Morpho for Facial Recognition System
Safran Group says that its Morpho division has signed a contract with Changi Airport in Singapore to supply a solution to facilitate the passenger journey using facial recognition. Safran says the solution is based on MorphoPass Biometric Applicant Management System and MorphoWay automated gates to support the airport’s Fast and Seamless Travel concept for Terminal 4 that will open next year. Steve Lee, chief information officer and senior vice president for technology at Changi Airport, says the deal with Morpho is “the first time that facial recognition technology will be used at Changi airport. The solution eliminates the need for manual identity verification by staff.” The value of the contract wasn’t disclosed.
DHS S&T Awards 1st Detect, Smiths Detection Team Work on Next-Gen ETD
1st Detect Corp. and its partner Smiths Detection have received a two-year Phase One contract from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology branch to develop next-generation Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) systems based on 1st Detect’s ion trap mass spectrometry technology. 1st Detect is a subsidiary of Astrotech [ASTC]. Smiths Detection is the systems integrator and is also developing the user interface for the system, Thomas Pickens, chairman and CEO of Astrotech, tells HSR. In Phase One the companies will deliver a breadboard technology system, which Pickens says has already been miniaturized by 1st Detect, which meets the specifications and requirements set forth by DHS. Pickens says that unlike ETD systems in use today for security applications that are based on ion mobility mass spectrometry, ion trap technology can pick up traces of thousands of types of explosives versus about a dozen with the current systems. 1st Detect’s systems are currently in use in laboratories and for industries such as food processing and computer chip manufacturing. Pickens says that while the system under development is already the size of the traditional desktop ETDs in operation at airports today, continued integration and interface development will enable it to be used by frontline operators. If the effort proceeds to a second phase, there would be environmental hardening and other protections added to the system.