Stratovan Corp. has launched toolkit for an imaging standard with screening security systems used in airports, taking a step forward toward interoperability of these various systems.
The toolkit for the Digital Imaging and Communications in Security (DICOS) standard is a “Step forward in standardization leading up to the interoperable airport,” David Wiley, president and chief technology officer of Stratovan, tells HSR. “If we standardize the airports, or if we play a role in that, then we as a third party can develop additional products and plug them in to this interoperable airport environment.”
The toolkit is meant to support four different types of screening systems, three of which are widely deployed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other airports globally. These systems are explosive detection systems (EDS) used to screen checked bags, Advanced Technology X-Ray systems that screen carry-on bags, and Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) systems to screen people. The fourth type of system is quadrapole resonance technology but these are not widely deployed.
Currently the screening systems that TSA has deployed to the nation’s airports are based on proprietary interfaces, making it impossible for the agency to purchase third party applications and components, such as viewing stations and automated threat recognition (ATR) algorithms and install into these systems.
Stratovan developed the DICOS toolkit with TSA funding. The company is also under contract with the agency for developing an ATR system for EDS.
However, Wiley says, even if development of the ATR algorithm is successful and “we have a product and do better than the existing EDS, there is no way to sell it because there is no way to integrate it given the existing environment.” This is why the company is also focusing on standardization through the DICOS toolkit, he says.
In a statement, Wiley says “A wealth of detection systems currently exist and are bundled together using proprietary interfaces which aren’t compatible with devices from different vendors. This limits buying decisions for TSA and makes it difficult for innovation to occur. Our DICOS toolkit allows new and existing vendors to easily become DICOS compliant and enables them to introduce new products into airports more quickly.”
There are still other standardization challenges to be overcome to complement DICOS, Wiley says.