Borders They Are A-Changin’

[Mattab]

Smart Borders Moving In The Right Direction

Change is coming and coming quicker than we have ever seen and UK&I Borders are in the eye of the storm. The heated conversations of the Brexit implications on free movement have been slowly baking, while increased consumer expectation of small package delivery has been fanning the flames under the Border Force. Combine this with the cold waters of complex trade negotiations and you already had the start of a perfect storm. Then, with the pandemic as an accelerant, UK&I Borders have been buffeted hard and there is an expected forecast for more heavy rain, thunder and lightning ahead.

At HPE we have been working to help agencies understand the technologies that can support the goal of creating a smarter border of the future that can weather the storm.

Investing In Smartening UK Borders

To cope with this impending hurricane the UK government announced back in July £705m of new funding. This investment is to ensure the necessary infrastructure, technology and personnel are in place to facilitate trade, effective movement of people and enable the border industry to manage change and seize new opportunities. Cabinet Minister Michael Gove has stated a clear goal for the UK: to “build the world’s most effective and secure border”. Unlike other events that have battered the UK borders throughout history, these new forces will continue to gather pace. With an anticipated 60% increase, over the next five years, in e-commerce driven fast-parcels which need to meet customer expectations of under 72 hours delivery coupled with the projected rise of 300m migrants by 2050 things need to change and fast.

Technology to the rescue

Implementing smarter border technologies is going to be a critical success factor in enabling trade to flourish and supporting the ease of people movement. At HPE we have a deep understanding of how technology can help address business problems at scale, so we have prepared a new technical paper discussing smarter borders for the future, to shine a light on the best ways that new techniques can be introduced to make our borders safe, while still allowing them to operate at the pace of modern life.

So, what are the Current Challenges?

I could not write an article at the current time without referencing COVID-19, it has had one of the biggest impacts on trade and travel in the history of UK&I. Extremely tight controls have been implemented and at peak our borders were closed to 65% of international travel destinations. Getting back on track must be done in a caring, responsible and measured way. UK border rules are evolving rapidly to address infection risk from passengers arriving from countries where cases have spiked and we are still in the eye of the storm.

There are also challenges ahead to streamline trade and travel post-Brexit and we cannot do this with trial and error - difficult when you’re talking about the traffic of people and goods at enormous scale.  The use of computer simulations for physical systems to plan and test the impact of new border controls in a controlled environment should be a keystone of any policy changes. Using these techniques minimises the disruption in the real world by exploring options in a virtual replica called a digital twin.

Which Technologies Can Help

One thing is certain, smart and streamlined borders will fare best in the ‘new normal’ world. In our Smarter Borders technical paper, we discuss which technologies could help with the adaptation needed. Many of these examples use Artificial Intelligence as a way of providing the flexibility while still implementing the policies need and at the scale required. Examples of these are:

• Identification of risk hot spots, using AI enabled video analytics for things like queuing areas where travellers are not practicing social distancing or identification of people not wearing the appropriate protective equipment in areas that policy dictates allows for fast response times and helps keep people safe. In addition to immediate remediation this knowledge can also reveal insights that help to improve building layouts and signage making these spaces safer and massively reducing risk.
• Queues analysis, using the same technology can help speed the flow of people and is an ideal way of keeping control of people and understanding and preventing them congregating. Examples of how this can help include counting how many people switch lines or leave the queue altogether. This insight identifies bottlenecks and can be used to reduce congestion and optimise staffing levels.
• Speed at the edge is paramount so putting the computing power as close the event as possible gives faster insights by processing data nearer to the border agents who need them. Using techniques like AI powered behavioural analysis to spot risky or suspicious activity which allows border control to be more focused and act sooner.
• Electronic passes (e.g. ePassports) with biometric data enable fast and automated passenger processing to reduce queues.

AI techniques at the edge can also facilitate the real-time analysis of parcels moving through the borders system, something HPE has extensive experience at. By creating a distributed video analytics mesh from the edge to the core a unified approach creates an evidence-based mechanism that shows how items are handled and sorted and prevents misappropriation. This combined with identification of incorrectly completed declaration forms allows intelligence gathering, sharing and applying that intelligence to ensure resources were targeted appropriately. All done using a unified digital footprint unique to the item.

As the volume increases, disruptions to the flow of goods and revenue collection must be kept to a minimum. New technology can have a massive impact :

• Fast parcels whose shape, colour, label data, and country of origin are automatically detected. AI alerts border agents when action is needed.
• Embedded technologies that automate fee collection at borders, to ensure taxes, fees and duties are efficiently collected.

Leveraging What You Have

Much of the infrastructure needed to create the border of the future already exists in systems such as cameras, Wi-Fi networks, and standard IT equipment. Pay-as-you-use models such as HPE GreenLake, which provides pay-as-you-use infrastructure, makes it easier to deploy new solutions and accommodate peaks and troughs in usage needs.

Learn more

The UK border industry is being given the challenge and the resources to build the world’s most effective and secure border, to be the new lighthouse in the gathering storm.

It’s time to start taking practical steps to create the new normal and get trade and passengers flowing at optimal levels. Read the technical paper to learn more.

Matt Armstrong-Barnes
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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