DHS set to begin tech component of troubled border network

Fencing along the southwest border of the United States is nearly complete, allowing the Homeland Security Department to move on to the technology component of its massive Secure Border Initiative, but direction for the troubled program will be decided during the next year by the department's new secretary, the program's chief told Nextgov on Friday.

DHS plans to complete construction on the final 66 miles of the fence in the next few months, having already erected 604 miles of physical barriers along the United States' southwestern border with Mexico, said Mark Borkowski, executive director for SBI, whose office contacted Nextgov requesting to discuss the program.

With the completion of the barriers, DHS will shift its focus to the technology program designed to stop border crossings. SBINet incorporates a combination of sensors and cameras and control towers to monitor activity along the perimeter.

"Over the past year or so, it's fair to say we focused on the fence," said Borkowski, who took over as executive director of the program in October 2008 after Gregory Giddens was removed from the post. "That was a high priority for the previous administration. Now that's largely finished, and we're shifting emphasis over to the design of a technology solution that will enhance border control, first in the high-risk areas between ports of entry."

The solution includes a series of towers equipped with radar stations, day and night cameras and feeds from ground sensors, which detect and track movements along the border fence. The towers are powered by solar energy and electricity where available. They house computers and backup generators, and send signals back to a command center at a border control station. A computer program then integrates the data collected from all the equipment to create a view of what is happening along the border. DHS tested the system and found some issues that the agency is resolving, but they don't appear to be "showstoppers," Borkowski said.

Border patrol agents will test two deployments of the system in the Tucson, Ariz., area in the spring, Borkowski said. Barring any major problems, technology deployments will continue along the Arizona border, with DHS aiming to complete the installation in 2011 or 2012.

Homeland Security's plans depend on funding. The Government Accountability Office, which has released reports criticizing the program for cost overruns and schedule delays, is waiting for an SBINet expenditure plan from Customs and Border Protection. The plan "will indicate where any changes might come to the SBINet and SBI [technical infrastructure] programs," said Richard Stana, director for homeland security and justice issues at GAO.

GAO submitted a letter to Congress on Jan. 29 detailing costs accrued in construction of the SBI fence and how funds could have been used more efficiently.

"The complexity of the program carries inherent risks [relating to] environmental conditions, technology integration, sufficiency of detection technology, training, and so on," said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer at FedSources, a consulting and research firm based in McLean, Va. "A prudent program manager will work to identify those risks and develop a mitigation plan. I'm not sure the government and the contractor did a thorough enough job in addressing risks."

The program also could be stymied by the recent appointment of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, whose support of SBI in its current form is questionable. She did not back the fence when she was governor of Arizona, saying at the National Press Club in 2007, "You show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder," Government Executive reported.

Immediately after becoming DHS secretary, Napolitano asked for a number of detailed briefings about the program, Borkowski said, and recently issued a directive that asked departmental offices to submit reports detailing vulnerabilities and security strategies along the border with Canada, which was not widely addressed under the previous administration. Congress earmarked funds for security along the northern border in the fiscal 2009 budget, indicating that those efforts will likely get under way in the coming year.

"The new administration knows where we are, and the full deployment decision of yea or nay will come toward the end of the year," Borkowski said. "That's when we'll see the most direction. But I do expect we'll see information about priorities and pace in the next few months."

Most criticisms of the program have been valid, but DHS is addressing them, he said. "It's my responsibility to fix this," Borkowski said. "I'm concerned about lack of structure and discipline processes, and while I have to give credit for management by heroics, you can't get away with that for too long. I have the challenge of putting together a more effectively organized program that is capable of doing these things right. It's a big job and it's daunting, but I'm optimistic."