MAIN HEAD Using IT in maritime security www.maritime.irco.com DECK HEAD The maritime industry has met its security requirements until now through paper documents, written procedures and disparate security technology such as gates and CCTV. Jim Ligotti from Ingersoll Rand explains how a wired and networked security system might work better IMAGE Ingersoll Rand.jpg Caption "An integrated security system control room" IMAGE jim ligotti.jpg BOX Jim Ligotti is vice president for Maritime Solutions within Ingersoll-Rand Security and Safety Solutions, a business that specializes in implementing integrated security and safety systems across one or more of a customer's facilities. He currently serves on the Technical Advisory Council of the Port Security Planning Branch of the United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Office, based in Philadelphia. BODY For certain applications, conventional security systems that use decentralized paper- and people-based systems may be a reasonably effective, if not optimal, approach for promoting reliable security and business efficiency. The manager of a small corporate office with a couple dozen employees and a handful of daily visitors, for instance, may determine that hiring a security guard or two to screen building badges suffices for the company's security needs. However most conventional security and safety systems work in a vacuum, divorced from other business processes. And these conventional systems in no way help to enhance business productivity or otherwise assist managers in running a stronger, more efficient business. In the complex world of maritime trade - where hundreds or even thousands of crew members, drivers, maintenance workers, administrators and longshoremen, employed by unaffiliated companies and agencies, work together to move goods in and out of a port - a system of security that relies on paper and people to track, manage and monitor vulnerable assets is both inefficient and undependable. In addition to being unable to accommodate the high volume of people that moves through a typical port, conventional approaches to security and safety possess other limitations that make them poorly suited for a maritime environment, because it is so hard to secure all of the different entrances to ports and vessels. SUBHEAD Conventional security Conventional security systems are designed to secure specific points, or areas of concern, at a facility, such as cargo, entrances to a vessel, and equipment. One facility may have several disparate security systems serviced by different vendors. For instance, a CCTV system installed by one vendor for monitoring cargo may work independently of an access-control system installed by another vendor for granting access to truckers who transport cargo. Protecting these entrances and assets is a critical element in securing a maritime environment that conventional people- and paper-based approaches are simply too costly and inefficient to fulfil. A facility that relies on point-based solutions is invariably inefficient, poorly accommodates change and growth in security needs, and can quickly become unmanageable. Conventional security systems typically rely on paper forms of identification (I.D.), such as drivers' licenses and social security cards, to verify the identity of individuals looking to access secure areas of a facility. Colleagues can share and criminals can steal or forge these documents. They are inherently unreliable when used to verify identity. The process of screening paper-based I.D. typically requires recording data, such as a driver's license or Social Security number, by writing it down or making photo copies - a time consuming process that risks infringing on privacy rights. In order to screen paper forms of I.D. and track the movement of individuals throughout a facility, an organization needs to employ security personnel. Security personnel are often difficult to train, costly to hire, and undependable. SUBHEAD Integrated security We have developed an approach that both improves security and safety while also enabling our customers to reduce costs and improve productivity, which we call Integrated Security. The idea is to integrate the security and safety requirements for every element of, and activity that takes place, at a facility. These elements and activities may be categorized as people, openings, and assets. For instance, a ship's "openings" include the engine control room, electrical control/equipment room, cargo storage area, bridge, and steering gear room. A port's "people" include longshoremen, crew, administrators, maintenance workers, and truck drivers. Assets for both a port and vessel may include the vessels themselves, equipment, vehicles, containers and cargo. People, openings and assets are connected together with a connected information-technology infrastructure based on an expandable, open architecture. Data is generated through the power of electronics - access cards with electronic codes or biometric identifiers replace paper forms of I.D. and significantly reduce the number of security personnel required for security screening. Because the architecture is open, the system easily accommodates the addition of new security applications (i.e., a remote-monitoring system) as modules to a shared database. The result is a highly reliable system that coordinates remote-monitoring, access-control, time-and-attendance, CCTV surveillance and other technologies and processes designed to secure a facility's assets. SUBHEAD Operating efficiency A crucial difference between conventional approaches and integrated security (IS) is the focus that IS places on improving efficiencies. Conventional security and safety systems are designed as an answer to the question, how can I improve security and safety? Integrated Security supplies the answer to this question and one other: How can I run a better, more productive business? IS improves the management of information, including collection and exchange of data between security and non-security related technology systems. For instance, human resources managers can use data from a time-and-attendance system to track levels of tardiness. A CCTV application may produce data that can be used in connection with an inventory-tracking program. IS increases cost efficiencies with every system involved connected through a shared technology infrastructure. It can detect, investigate and resolve security violations far more quickly and with fewer security personnel and other resources than unconnected technologies. IS is designed specifically to facilitate the seamless movement of people, cargo and equipment through entrances and other security points. Rather than requiring authorized individuals to endure the process of giving sensitive or even personal information, such as a Social Security card, to security personnel, IS relies on electronic-access cards coded with an electronic code or biometric identifier. For pre-screened employees, vendors and other individuals, the result is fast, hassle-free access, when and where they need it. IS becomes more efficient and reliable as it expands. With each new opportunity to collect and leverage data, IS becomes better able to manage the people, openings and assets involved in a facility's operations. For instance, a new time-and-attendance application may generate data on employees that facilitates faster and more dependable verification of identity for authorized employees by means of an existing access-control system. Integrated Security systems can facilitate free movement of authorised personnel when necessary; there is no problem if ID cards are lost; there is less dependence on subjective judgements of security staff; different employees are subject to different levels of examination; the system can be put together by a small group of vendors partnered together, rather than a large group of suppliers which don't work together. It is easy to change the security level of an integrated security system, or make other changes to a system (for example, opening all doors if it is necessary to evacuate a vessel quickly). Areas where an integrated security system could provide added value is in its ability to track seafarers and ports they visited; alerting truckers when their containers will be ready for collection; providing data and video which could be used to settle damage claims; SUBHEAD Building the infrastructure Even before the ISPS was adopted, governments around the world had begun to require ports and vessels to implement security measures that rely on information technologies. A business or agency that fails to take steps now to build an infrastructure capable of accommodating the growing use of technology will find it difficult to change and grow as fast as its technology-proficient competitors. Ports and vessels must work now to create a foundation that will be able to provide for additional security measures in the future - a requirement that point-oriented solutions, which drive up operational costs and lead times, are simply too inefficient and unmanageable to fulfil. Companies and agencies will need to adopt a new approach to security and safety if they are to effectively protect waterways and the cities and populations that reside alongside them.