Rival bidders jockey for Home Office border controls

The Home Office has invited two consortia, led by BT and military supplier Raytheon, to bid for supplying technology for its e-Borders project.

The project aims to collect and analyse passenger and crew data, provided by air, sea and rail carriers in advance of their travel for journeys to and from the UK.

This would support intelligence in operating border controls, by identifying those involved in abuse of immigration laws, and in serious and organised crime, the Home Office said.

By the end of 2010, e-Borders plans to roll out core services to all major ports in the UK.

Under the plans, border control agencies would be able to access information in advance of travel about the movements of passengers so resources can be targeted towards those who present a threat, while speeding up travel for those who do not, the Home Office said. The roll-out would be complete by 2014, it said.

By the summer of next year, one of the bidding teams will be awarded the contract. BT Emblem is lead by BT and includes Lockheed Martin, LogicaCMG, Hewlett Packard, ARINC and Anite.

The Trusted Borders bid is lead by Raytheon and includes Accenture, Detica, Serco, QinetiQ, Steria, and Capgemini.

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