FICCI-BDO report launched

General V. K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, has underlined the need for user-oriented technological solutions for securing the country’s borders.

Close interface of the manufacturers of border surveillance systems with the users was critical to enable border security forces to identify, delay and disrupt infiltration, he said, while inaugurating the ‘Smart Border Management 2018’ conference organised by FICCI in collaboration with India Foundation on 17 Sept 2018.

Gen. Singh said in view of the uniqueness of India’s borders in terms of the variety of terrain and climatic differences, it was imperative to have in place systems that required minimal maintenance and were easy to handle. In addition, technology should have reliable and robust alarm systems to reduce the response time for counter-measures, he emphasised.

In this context, he suggested that user core groups need to be constituted to interact with manufacturers of border management technological systems to build customised solutions.

It is noteworthy that the Smart Border Management conference coincided with the launch of two pilot projects in Jammu by Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management Solution (CIBMS).

Each project covers 5.5-km border stretches. The two stretches along the international border in Jammu will have a first-of-a-kind, high-tech surveillance system that will create an invisible electronic barrier on land, water and even in air and underground, helping the BSF to detect and foil infiltration bids in the most difficult of terrains.

FICCI, which has been advocating the implementation of technology and solutions for Smart Border Management and the CIBMS project, has been extensively discussed at FICCI platform at the previous editions of Border Management programmes.

On the occasion, the Minister released the FICCI-BDO Report on ‘Smart Border Management’.

Cdr. Gautam Nanda, Associate Partner, BDO India, said that big data technology and services provided the decision-makers with powerful information.

The market for such technology and services was estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22% from 2015 to 2020 and reach $58.9 billion in 2020.

Rahul Chaudhry, Chair, FICCI Homeland Security Committee, stressed the need for looking at technology of today and the future needs in order to meet the country’s requirements. Border management, he said, was multi-dimensional and highlighted the critical role of big data and predictive analytics in tackling border infiltration.

Major General Dhruv C. Katoch, Director, India Foundation, underscored the importance of taking on board the concerns of those living in and around the borders and suggested that sarpanches of border villages should be co-opted as members of border management groups.

The FICCI-BDO report notes that security organisations collect vast amount of data. This data along with analytics can be used to make more insightful, forward-looking decisions about readiness, logistics, manpower, intelligence, and a host of other critical security concerns. Seamless integration of strategic intelligence with operational and tactical Intelligence across defence services and other agencies is needed and this can be made feasible using Big Data analytics.

Agencies need a data integration layer, that can connect all the disparate databases residing across the agency, department or other central, state and local government entities – a single layer that can link a comprehensive set of data from multiple data sources into a single dashboard in real time.

In other words, to successfully analyse vast amounts of granular data, this data infrastructure must be able to:

process large volumes of data quickly;
handle the huge variety of structured and unstructured data and manage the velocity of data, which is increasing rapidly.

The report suggests possible applications for big data and predictive analysis in areas such as:

a) Signal Intelligence, cyber intelligence and intelligence from social media platforms can be integrated with operational and tactical platforms/sensors thus providing actionable intelligence to troops on ground and value inputs to decision makers to timely deploy resources and take corrective actions.

b) Better management of land borders and maritime security can be achieved by having terrain/traffic/asset analytical layer on digital/raster maps. This can act as a useful tool in formulating plans.

c) Analytics can revolutionise the supply chain management system by creating diagnostic tools for fleet / equipment management, ammunition management (manufacturing – storage – replenishment) and inventory management.

d) Cognitive analytics with behaviour prediction is an essential tool for the decision makers in the defence forces.

The report provides use cases of big data and predictive analytics and the way forward for smart border management covering areas of coastal security management, land border security management, enhancing communication and surveillance systems for mobilising forces, customs administration and management.

It highlights the areas of intervention and key challenges faced and possible solutions along with expected outcomes and potential benefits. fiinews.com