Border patrol

摘要

Life couldn't be simpler for the handful of mid-week shoppers browsing the stores of The Chimes shopping centre in Uxbridge. To the accompaniment of soft muzak, the reassuring pattern of browse, buy and eat dulls the senses and temporarily holds at bay the spectres of economic meltdown and terrorism that stalk the real-world outside. Little do the shoppers know that just a few hundred metres away, behind the glinting glass and chrome of a neighbouring office block, lies the latest front line in the UK's war against international crime. This is the base of the Trusted Borders consortium, a 600-strong team of engineers and technicians, working elbow to elbow on the government's e-Borders programme, an initiative heralded as the most advanced and ambitious border control project in the world. The consortium, led by defence giant Raytheon Systems and including, among others, Qinetiq and Capgemini, was awarded the ￡650m contract to develop the system late last year, narrowly beating a rival consortium led by BT. With an estimated overall cost of ￡1.2bn, the aim of e-Borders is to keep track of everyone coming in and out of the UK, whether they be the skippers ofrnprivate yachts or passengers arriving at Heathrow airport. A straightforward enough objective. But with an estimated 250 million people making this journey each year, it's a pretty tough call. Not only does it require new technology and infrastructure. But the solution must meet with approval of a dizzying assortment of government agencies, travel industry bodies, and, of course, passengers; ramping up security while ensuring the UK doesn't become a fortress so impenetrable nobody wants to come here.