The Homeland Security Department's new border security technology approach in Arizona differs from its SBInet predecessor largely in a move away from integrated sensor towers in favor of remote-controlled camera systems, a decades-old technology.

DHS announced Jan. 14 that it has canceled its troubled SBInet program in favor of an effort that utilizes "existing, proven technology tailored to the distinct terrain and population density of each border region." SBInet was an effort to blanket U.S. borders with a networked chain of radars, cameras and heat and motion detectors, allowing border patrol agents to work from a common operational picture.

In a report (.pdf) with some details of its new approach, DHS says it can deploy its new effort across almost all of Arizona's border with Mexico for a mere $750 million--considerably less per mile than the $1.9 billion the Government Accountability Office estimates DHS has spent on SBInet, which is active along only 53 miles of Arizona border. SBInet's prime contractor was Boeing (NYSE: BA), which received the contract in September 2006.

In the report, DHS breaks down its original SBInet technology deployment plans for Arizona according to "focus area" (see map below) and compares them against its new proposed technology approach.

As the table from the DHS report shows, DHS's plan for Arizona calls for decreasing the number of integrated sensor towers by 24, and increasing the number of remote video surveillance systems by 18--a number that jumps to 59 if you include replacement systems, since under the SBInet plan, RVSS towers were slated for obsolescence.

RVSS towers consist of a pair of pole-mounted day and night cameras the transmit a dedicated image feed monitored in real time by border patrol agents. There are 250 RVSS deployed along the southwest border, according to DHS.

The plan also calls for 545 additional unattended ground sensors, devices which detect heat and vibrations associated with foot traffic and metal associated with vehicles--devices which have also been part of border technology repertoire for years.

In developing its new approach--a process still underway for other areas of the southwest border--DHS says it weighed possible alternatives against four measures of effectiveness. Two measures in particular--how well a technology provides coverage (i.e., situational awareness) of activities within a certain area, and how much a technology enabled an individual agent's ability to focus on and respond to activities--accounted for 85 percent of the overall effectiveness score, DHS says in the report.

"The heart of the SBInet concept, a one size fits all, integrated fixed tower-based system, is not applicable across the entire border," is what DHS officials say they ultimately concluded from the effectiveness study. A plan with technology options for the rest of the border region should be ready in march 2011, the report adds.

For more:
- download the DHS report (.pdf)
- download a DHS factsheet on its new approach (.pdf)

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CBP lacks capability to support existing SBInet technology, says DHS 
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