Executives: Policy a must before air security can work

U.S. leaders must resolve controversial questions surrounding issues such as privacy and a national ID system before the nation can take full advantage of advanced technologies and solutions in aviation security, said four top industry executives at an April 29 conference. Scott McNealy, chairman and chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., said citizens fears of surrendering their privacy to achieve security may be misdirected. People don't realize how much their privacy already has been eroded, he said.Steve Perkins, Oracle Corp.'s senior vice president of U.S. public sector business, echoed McNealy. The real test, he said, is of "political will: What are we willing to trade in order to be secure?"McNealy and Perkins spoke at a Council for Excellence in Government's meeting in Washington. Also speaking were Scott Hartz, global managing partner of PwC Consulting, and Dick Brown, chairman and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems Corp.The four companies formed an alliance in March to promote a suite of integrated IT solutions to address the government's transportation security challenges.The companies have identified four key airline security areas to be addressed: passenger identification, baggage identification, cargo screening and identification and control of airport employees, Hartz said. "We've tried to develop solutions around each area," he said.The four did not agree on whether a national identification card would be necessary. Perkins argued there is no need for a national card, but there needs to be better security around the cards folks have now. McNealy called for nationally mandated standards for things such as driver's licenses. Hartz supported the concept of a national ID card and suggested that some form of profiling, based on meaningful screening criteria, would improve security while easing the burden on the traveling public."This is maybe the highest item on the priority list," Brown said, urging political leaders to take bipartisan action and provide funding to overhaul the system. "This has an urgency that just cannot be pushed away."Security at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, is the world's strongest, Brown said. EDS provides much of the technology used there. Integrating the technology into U.S. airports and linking databases to provide meaningful screening information form the purpose of the alliance, he said.