TSA enters next stage of infrastructure deployment

Transportation Security Administration IT teams and contractor Unisys Corp. now are deploying integrated Internet-ready applications throughout airports, seaports and other TSA-run facilities, deputy CIO Mark Emery said today, to begin the second phase of the agency's systems infrastructure implementation.

Stage 1?which included installing network connections, computers and basic applications such as e-mail at every TSA component?mainly consisted of creating the infrastructure's foundation, Emery said at the SecureE-Biz.net conference sponsored by the Interoperability Clearinghouse of Alexandria, Va.

The agency has been successful because it is using an e-government software platform to run Web services, he said. The platform is an Oracle Corp. database and Oracle 9i Application Server. TSA is using content management and workflow software from Documentum Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif.

"We are working from a very limited budget, and we have to make use of every dollar, and our enterprise architecture is helping us do that," he said. "Our e-government platform allows us to share common databases, tools and resources for deployment across the agency."

As an example, Emery recounted how instead of buying a new emergency alert system for Chicago O'Hare International Airport, IT managers tweaked an existing system that let O'Hare's system integrate with other TSA apps.