Homeland Security Department to begin testing RFID to streamline border crossings

Staff -- Purchasing, 2/17/2005

The Homeland Security Department announced that it will begin testing RFID to streamline border crossings by frequent visitors, which may help businesses that use frequent border crossings. "We are driven by a vision of the way our borders can and should operate in the future, and that future is getting closer and closer with every layer of US-VISIT [an alien tracking program] we deploy," said Asa Hutchinson, under secretary for border and transportation security for the Department of Homeland Security. "Through the use of RFID technology, we see the potential to not only improve the security of our country, but also to make the most important infrastructure enhancements to the U.S. land borders in more than fifty years. Working with our border partners, we intend to see that it's done in the right way and at the right pace," Hutchinson continued.

"The [existing border crossing] system has not worked for 20 years," said Maria Luisa O'Connell, president of the Border Trade Alliance, which promotes trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico and has long advocated using RFID technology to relieve the crossing logjam.

By July 31, 2005, testing is scheduled to begin at border points in Arizona, New York and Washington state. The testing or proof of concept phase is expected to continue through the spring of 2006. Hutchinson said the plan is to have RFID technology in place eventually at all U.S. borders and the chips could cost as little as 25¢ each, he said.

High-tech giant Hewlett-Packard plans to open an RFID Noisy Lab in Omaha, Neb., in February. Company officials said it will be one of the most comprehensive RFID labs in the industry, simulating a real-world manufacturing and distribution center where HP, its customers and its partners can pilot and evaluate RFID technology and solutions. So named because it simulates a live or noisy manufacturing environment and distribution center, the RFID Noisy Lab is part of a broader RFID acceleration initiative underway at HP to meet retailers' RFID compliance mandates.