Bidding begins for £400m e-Borders system

The UK government has started the procurement process for the £400m e-Borders project to track and screen all travellers entering and leaving the UK.

The e-Borders system will automatically assess the security risk of individuals boarding transport to the UK using travel industry passenger lists and intelligence databases.

People deemed to pose a threat to UK security would not be allowed to board a plane, ship or train bound for the UK, and the system will also keep electronic logs of each traveller's entry and departure in an attempt to crack down on individuals who overstay their visa.

Biometric technology will also be a part of the e-Borders system, and iris scanning will allow for the fast-tracking of some regular travellers through airport immigration.

IBM has already been running trials of some of the e-Borders technology as part of the £15m Project Semaphore, tracking six million airline passengers per year travelling on a selection of international routes to the UK.

The Home Office's Immigration and Nationality Directorate has now started the procurement process for the full e-Borders system, which is due to be rolled out from 2008.

The contract is for the design, development, implementation, support and operation of the IT systems that will link border control authorities in the UK and abroad to travel industry systems.

Prime contractors and consortium arrangements will be considered and the Home Office is looking for at least three suppliers to bid for the contract, which will be for a minimum of five and a maximum of 15 years in length.

The deadline for initial expressions of interest is 7 November and long-listed suppliers will be invited to tender at the end of February 2006.

The Home Office's initial partial regulatory impact assessment admits that travellers may have to pay a small fee to cover the cost of the e-Borders system.