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Volpe Center Highlights - September/October 2000

National Security

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Human and Natural Environment |
Economic Growth and Trade | National Security | Papers and Presentations

Advance the nation's vital security interests by ensuring that the transportation system is secure and available for defense mobility and that our borders are safe from illegal intrusion.

Volpe Symposium Provides a Forum for National Security Specialists

The Volpe Center recently organized and hosted the Interagency National Security Technology Symposium, an interagency conference showcasing the latest developments in security technology. The conference was sponsored by the Facility Protection Committee of the U.S. Security Policy Board, an advisory group to the White House, and was attended by more than 140 representatives from throughout the federal government. Mr. John Wojtowicz of the Infrastructure Protection and Operations Division has been the National Chair of the Committee's Research and Development Working Group. Mr. Wojtowicz organized and moderated the symposium.

The symposium addressed technological innovations in security and counter- terrorism with the objective of developing an integrated approach to physical and cyber infrastructure assurance. Critical to reaching this objective is the open exchange of technology information in a classified forum. The symposium provided an environment for such an exchange of information while also fostering important partnerships; communication at the forum also will help to minimize duplication of effort among federal agencies.

Symposium presentations and discussions covered a wide range of technologies relevant to national security. For specialists addressing physical security, topics included digital video technology, tagging and tracking advancements, wireless communications vulnerabilities, as well as detection, modeling, and mitigation techniques for explosive, chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological threats. Topics critical to information security included risk assessment methodologies for information systems and facilities; command, control, and communications technologies; and DOT's ongoing Global Positioning System vulnerability assessment work.

Participants at the symposium represented a wide range of federal organizations, including the Federal Aviation Administration; Central Intelligence Agency; Defense Threat Reduction Agency; U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and U.S. Navy; Department of Energy and its national laboratories; Department of Defense's (DoD) Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office/Technical Support Working Group; Department of Treasury's Departmental Office of Security; Secret Service; Customs Service; and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Representatives from industry and academia also attended the conference.

Participants noted that the conference provided a very stimulating forum for the exchange of information, and suggested that the Volpe Center continue to play a facilitating role in the exchange of information on National Security. As a direct result of hosting this conference, the Center now is supporting the DoD's Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office/Technical Support Working Group. Mr. Wojtowicz is managing its technology research and development program for entry point screening of vehicles, vessels, mail, cargo, and personnel.

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