Interview with Rob Durward, Director, IM/IT at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA)

FB
Would you please describe the CATSA Department and its role in Canada, please?
 

CATSA, which stands for Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, is the answer, basically, to 9/11 in 2001, but from the Canadian perspective. We were created in April of 2002, and essentially, our responsibly concerns passenger safety at airports. Our main responsibility is the screening of passengers and their goods. We have both PBS & HBS, meaning, Pre-board screening and Hold-bag screening, at Canadian airports. Our third one- as we have four-, is NPS, which means Non-passenger screening, and RAIC, which is Restricted Area Identity Card. The non-passenger screening involves the screening of individuals who are in the restricted area at each of the airports. I guess the RAIC is what we’ll be talking about in more detail. 

 

FB 

That’s correct, and actually, let’s move right into that. Would you please tell us a bit more about RAIC, what were the objectives of this program, and when did you launch it?

 

CATSA 

It was announced on November the 5^th, in 2002, by the Minister of Transport, at the time, which I believe was Mr. David Collenette, and the idea was for airport workers to have identity cards with a biometric requirement component to them. We engaged in a stakeholders’ review, consulted with Transport Canada, CATSA, and another stakeholders’ review. The stakeholders were the pilots, airport people, etc., and trying to get a handle on a card design and what would be the appropriate technology for this card. You may, or may not, know that we settled on iris and fingerprint as the way to go. Those two were the leading, but not bleeding, edge technologies at the time.

 

FB  

So you decided on a multimodel solution, as opposed to a single biometric, is that correct?

 

CATSA 

Yes, that’s correct.

 

FB 

What prompted your decision to settle on working with finger and iris?

 

CATSA 

Well, as I indicated, we had a working group that did some analysis. The main analysis was led by our folks at CATSA. I came on board approximately six months into the project and at that point the selection had already taken place. However, I am aware that they went to a number of biometric conferences and looked at what was viable. What they found as most viable was fingerprint, which I think is fairly standard, along with iris, which was, and had also proven to be, very effective. At the time, they also considered facial recognition as well, but that didn’t prove to be as mature a product in the biometric area at that time. And vascular pattern, which has gained some kind of a foothold currently, was not on the radar at that time.

 

FB 

What were some of the challenges that you faced as you deployed this technology?

 

CATSA 

That’s a very good question. Each of the airports that we dealt with—and the RAIC is in 29 airports, covering 100,000 airport employees. There was a certain reluctance –if that’s a fair way to put it—on the part of the airport community about costing issues. So, what we had to do was, essentially, open a dialogue with those 29 airports, — with the pilots, the unions and essentially, all the stakeholders at the airport, trying to explain what we were doing, while trying to cut the cost to the airports. We had to sell the idea to them. The way we went about that was through dialogue and inclusion. So, through every step of the way, these stakeholders were informed of what we were doing. They did not have a choice in the selection of the product however; for example, they didn’t have a choice in the particular reader that we used, but they were made aware of what was coming.

 

FB 

What has been the feedback from the end-users since that time? 

 

CATSA 

Well, there was, obviously, some struggles going in; this was new technology and CATSA was the first in the world to use a multimodel biometric on an HID-card. There was also the usual culture change, there were people who were reluctant to change. I’m very proud to say that there has been, honestly, some minor hiccups during the deployment, but now that it has been in place for a little over two years now, it’s a part of everyday life at the airports. The complaints and or comments that we do get are more hardware related than software; and certainly not system related. So, basically, what I mean is that we might have a situation where, for example- in the early days I had a situation where I was asked, can I have two readers? Because, in the initial deployment, quite frankly, CATSA, as well as the airports, were unsure of what particular reader would well at a particular access point.   So, we made an agreement with the airports; at the time we could not afford to have two readers at each access point since there are over 230 access points, so, what we did was to say, let’s make our best guess and we’ll then review this in six months, come back and put in the other one. If you put in iris at first and it has proven not to be to everyone’s liking, we’ll make the switch and put in the fingerprint. So, I guess, from the position of being flexible and open; as well, during the deployment, when there was a problem, it wasn’t covered up, it was openly discussed and the early adopters really helped. We had some very, very positive pilot sites – at Kelowna and Calgary—, and they led us through our trials there, and then the errors that were there—and there were a few—they were remedied and the lessons learned there were then spread throughout the rest of the airports.

 

FB 

I think you are very wise to have gone through that educational program, trying to make sure that everyone was comfortable with the new technology moving in. I think that really helps with deployment. 

 

CATSA 

Yes, for sure, I couldn’t have said that better myself.

 

FB 

So, what has been the overall benefit to CATSA concerning the RAIC program?

 

CATSA 

The overall airport environment has become more secure. CATSA is a partner with the airports regarding security.

 

FB 

Do you share biometric data with other government departments? For example, do you work closely with the Nexus CANPASS – Canadian Passenger Accelerated Service System—program run by Transport Canada, for example?

 

CATSA 

No; there is no sharing of the data, whatsoever. We are familiar with their program, they use a different model than we do, but we don’t share data, no.

 

FB 

What is next for your program; is mobile technology- for example- something that you might be looking at?

 

CATSA 

Actually, we have that technology already for fingerprints. We use it when needed and we have it as back up if we go into contingency mode.   There are a number of places, by-pass doors where pilots or crew go through, and they are identified by the handheld unit- it’s fingerprint only. We’ve spoken with the vendors, and they are, theoretically, in the process of putting together an iris reader in combination with the fingerprint reader.

 

FB 

Yes, that’s true; I saw at the Biometric Consortium Conference in Tampa, Florida, recently that for example, LG has now created a mobile iris unit. 

 

CATSA 

Yes, they’ve created it and we’re most happy to test it out. They are not quite ready for full deployment yet.

 

FB 

Okay, well, it’ll be exciting to see that come through.

 

CATSA 

Oh, for sure it will. Again, that will be a benefit to the airport, for sure.

 

FB 

What are the challenges that you see in terms of biometrics, in general, towards greater adoption. 

 

CATSA 

I think it would just be some of the types of things that we’ve already gone through. By this I mean, slow to change. Once our partners found out that biometrics works, that it doesn’t hinder the situation, but rather, in fact it is beneficial, then I believe that through their daily use they’ve found that there hasn’t been any issues. This then will lead to biometrics being considered commonplace. I think that we’re going to see the benefits of biometric technology in different areas—as you know, even on laptops now, it’s a little bit cumbersome, but it’s like any new technique or invention, it can work, but to get it out to the masses, it has to work slickly and the trailblazers who have made the effort to do this will reap the benefits a little further down the road. I see it as small pockets making use of it, and from there, it will grow and grow, which will be beneficial overall.

 

FB 

I couldn’t agree more; especially when one sees that you’ve had such success in large-scale deployments like RAIC. Others will look at, examine and see the success that you’ve had and that will hopefully, spur-on others to move in the same direction. 

 

CATSA 

Well, I must say that our group is very proud of our program. We had a very small team, which put this together, and again, working in conjunction with Transport Canada and the airports was very beneficial.

 

FB 

Have you considered implementing additional applications in different areas—such as, time and attendance, into your readers, or something along those lines?

 

CATSA 

We have not, no; but again, the delineation, if you will, is that our system is provided from the government’s side of the house as a credentialing system to the airports. But it’s the airports’ responsibility to actually implement the airport security. So, there’s a very defined line between where our responsibilities start and end, and where the airports take over. The airports, for example, are responsible for the actual access control. We interfaced with 20 different access control systems with our RAIC system, but, the clearly defined roles and responsibilities in activating it lies with the airports. As an example, I have a RAIC card which allows me to go to the Ottawa airport, also to Halifax and Vancouver. The RAIC card will show me, when I go up to a door, in each of these airports, that I am Rob Durward, and the biometric sample that I provided matches the one on my card. However, I will not have any access to just any door at any airport unless I have been entered into their individual access control system. 

 

FB 

Right, you would have to have been specifically delegated as having access to those areas. What’s next for your program; are you currently fully deployed, or is there a next step?

 

CATSA 

Yes, there is a next step; currently we are an ATB, so that means the terminal buildings. We are going outside of the terminal buildings within the next couple of years in order to secure those areas. As well, the non-passenger screening program (NPS), we’re working very closely with our other colleagues to set up permanent NPS areas within a select few airports. Additionally, vehicle screening will be part & parcel of what we need to do to help secure the apron etc., of the airports, and the PSL- primary security line. We’re working on a project to expand the RAIC in conjunction with the airports and Transport Canada, a little bit further outside of the current ATB. 

 

FB 

I can’t help but think about the upcoming events in Vancouver, with it hosting the 2010 Olympics, -- have you been in discussion with the folks out there concerning biometrics and security? Are they tapping into your experience at all?

 

CATSA 

Well, yes, they are, and as I’m sure you understand, I am not at liberty to say more on that topic.

 

FB 

Thank you Rob for taking the time to update us on the RAIC programme.

 

It has been my pleasure Peter.

 

Rob Durward is currently working as the Director, IM/IT at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). Rob’s foremost responsibility is the implementation and management of the Restricted Area Identity Card (RAIC) program. Phase 1 of the program was completed December 31, 2006. Phase 2 of the RAIC program (the restricted areas outside of the ATB) has commenced. Rob’s other responsibilities are running the Information Systems and Technology Branch for CATSA.

 

Since the creation of CATSA in 2002, Rob oversaw the design, architecture and implementation of the organization’s entire IM/IT Infrastructure, and assisted in the development of its operational systems.