Smiths Detection has launched an open architecture (OA) initiative across is broad security detection space although in the near-term the company is focused on the aviation security checkpoint where Europe is poised to begin to allow third party algorithms to be used in existing checkpoint computed tomography (CT) scanners, a development that will expand market opportunities for current and new vendors.
“What we wanted to do with this announcement was effectively announce to the market, ‘We are open to work with third parties, and potentially integrate third party algorithms, with our devices, with our hardware and leave it to the customer to decide whether they want to have a proprietary one from Smiths or whether they want to have one from a third party,’” Richard Thompson, vice president of marketing for Smiths Detection, tells HSR.
The Ada Initiative, as Smiths calls its OA effort, is named after the 19
th Century English mathematician and writer Ada Lovelace, the first person to publish an algorithm.
One concern regulators have is that if a third-party algorithm is integrated into another vendor’s checkpoint CT system, that the algorithm doesn’t negatively impact the performance of the CT scanner, Thompson said. And vice versa, regulators want to be sure that a change in the CT scanner doesn’t stop the third-party algorithm from working, he said.
“So, you do in effect need a single point of responsibility and that’s what’s also behind the Ada Initiative,” Thompson said.
Opportunity Ahead
The initial opportunity for Smiths and other companies in the OA space is expected to arrive in early 2023 once the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) creates the standard for Automated Prohibited Items Detection (APID) and certifies algorithm developers against the standard to reliably detect items like guns, knives and components for weapons and explosive devices. In anticipation of the coming standards and certifications by ECAC, airports in Europe have begun to tender for APIDs algorithms, Thompson said.
Companies likes Smiths, Pangiam and others are developing APIDs algorithms. Pangiam is conducting trials in the United Kingdom with another checkpoint CT supplier, Integrated Defense and Security Solutions (IDSS), integrating its prohibited items detection algorithm with IDSS’s capabilities in explosives detection.
In the U.S., the Transportation Security Administration has purchased checkpoint CT systems from Analogic and Smiths Detection. IDSS and Leidos [LDOS] are also competing to provide TSA with the next-generation scanners and all four companies have sold their systems internationally.
The new initiative by Smiths Detection publicly marks the entrance of one of the world’s leading security detection companies into the OA space, an area where the developers and manufacturers of systems used to scan luggage, cargo and vehicles for threats and contraband at airports, seaports and land ports have previously been reluctant to get into for various reasons, including the loss of intellectual property.
Now, Smiths is confident its intellectual rights will be protected, even if airport customers decide they wants a different vendor’s algorithm in the company’s checkpoint CT systems. Through a lot of testing that has been ongoing, these concerns have “largely been solved now,” Thompson said.
He also said the “maturity” of the prohibited item detection algorithms has been “progressing exponentially,” with test results “undeniably impressive compared to human analysts,” which is driving customers to begin demanding this capability. Another driver is staff shortages at airports and more regulators and airport authorities feeling comfortable with the way forward on OA, he said.
Indeed, in July 2020 TSA and various airports and regulators in Europe published the Open Architecture for Security Systems initiative. More recently, in July 2022, these authorities said they were working to update the initiative and have been working with equipment manufacturers on technical recommendations and protecting intellectual property.
Smiths Detection has worked with a number of companies to integrate their detection algorithms into its checkpoint CT system, in large part to make sure they don’t impact the performance of the CT system, Thompson said.
Smiths Detection has worked with Microsoft [MSFT] who has developed an algorithm to detect illegal wildlife. The algorithm was evaluated at London’s Heathrow airport, Thompson said. Other algorithms are being developed to detect cash, alcohol and even memory storage devices, he said.
To smooth the integration of third-party algorithms into various manufacturers’ security and detection systems, industry is working on standards for an application programming interface (API), Thompson said. Currently, the various integrations are customized, “depending on who you’re working with,” he said, adding that “we are seeking consensus with the other manufacturers to get a common API.”