Port Security - Tracking Cargo
Posted by StormWarning on 28 Feb 2006 at 07:49 am | Tagged as: Current Affairs, Federal Policy, National Security, Technology
While the debate continues over the merits of the Dubai Ports World/CIFUS deal (even here), the question of port security and the tracking of cargo remains (I believe that Phares’ POV holds). With all of the hype over RFIDs, they’re are still not being used widely because of cost.
Ports’ Technology Failure
RFID tags could greatly increase port security by tracking international cargo — but no one wants to pay for it.
The national debate over port ownership and cargo security often features this sobering statistic: only 5 percent of cargo containers arriving in the United States are inspected. But perhaps an even more disturbing statistic is that fewer than 1 percent of cargo containers — Pentagon cargo excepted — are tracked with simple radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags — a technology that could help pinpoint where a container has been and whether someone has broken into its seal in transit.
Each RFID tag can store a unique ID number that is "read" by fixed or handheld electronic readers. Such tags can also store bits of information from attached sensors. They present an obvious and relatively cheap way to help address the cargo security question.
But the industry and government have barely begun to adopt this existing technology, says Daniel Engels, an MIT mechanical engineer and former research director at MIT’s Auto-ID Labs, a leading center of research on RFID technology.
The problem isn’t a technological one, Engels points out. Rather, the industry has been slow to recognize a business model, governments aren’t forcing the industry’s hand, and the global cargo industry has not been motivated to forge standards…[more - please read it]
…What’s it going to take to get electronic tracking for cargo containers?
"The question is how fast is the U.S. government going to mandate the use of these tags? They do have new container security rules, but the affected companies oppose the rules, because it requires change and the expenditure of money. These industries have tremendous political
clout."
Port Security and Dubai Ports World
- Technorati port security, RFID tags
Current Affairs, Federal Policy, National Security, Technology
Now, IMO, the right questions are being asked here in regards to port security. Bitching about which country is better or worse at managing the ships that come and go is totally irrevalent because it’s up to us to protect ourselves. Why we aren’t using what we’ve got to do it IS the question that needs to be asked in regards to port security. Whether it’s the British or Arabs unloading the cargo, they’re not going to go out of their way to make sure it’s safe. That’s not their job. It’s ours. Why are still to this day only checking about 5% of what enters the country when there are scanners and sniffers that could get most all of it already available but not being used? I don’t blame it on the end-user, they play the game as everyone else does. It’s up to the federal government to change the rules OF the game. If it costs the Chinese more money because of the tighter security, so be it. I’m sure they’d be willing to deal with it to keep our business. And, I know from experience sometimes freight arrives from some not-too-secure locations and sits MONTHS to be inspected. This technology would enable those imports to be handled almost immediately. So, there is an economic incentive as well to using the new technologies, including RFID tags. It’s purely a win-win for the US. If presented that way, and supported by the media, it could be done fairly quick.
However, as long as the media keeps going along with distractions on the issue, which is all the Dubai debate is, it won’t get done. That’s why I get so aggravated with issues like this.
Excellent read on the topic:
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/013276.php