Source: TSA

  • Roadmap will drive key benefits such as improving the security screening performance, enhancing the customer experience and expanding TSA’s engagement with aviation security industry partners

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published its Open Architecture (OA) Roadmap that defines TSA’s long-term strategy to enhance screening capabilities. Open Architecture is a technology-design approach for software and hardware that uses widely accepted standards to ensure interoperability across tools and platforms regardless of the technology designer, manufacturer or supplier. This approach increases the number of available partners who can supply improved technology quickly and at a lower cost.

“Open architecture directly supports TSA’s mission and its workforce, while further protecting the nation’s transportation systems,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “This roadmap outlines how TSA will prioritize agile and flexible technologies that strengthen our ability to quickly develop, test, deploy and maintain new capabilities. All future contracting efforts for TSA’s airport security screening solutions will require vendors to provide equipment or software that comes from a common software framework, is interoperable, can be easily upgraded and is resilient to emerging cybersecurity threats.”

TSA’s Open Architecture Roadmap outlines four main goals:

  • Engagement
  • Technical standards and capabilities
  • Organizational policies and procedures
  • Data sharing

TSA has a history of supporting OA concepts dating back to 2010, including working in partnership with industry partners to establish the first security image data standard. During the past five years, TSA has accelerated its efforts related to OA and is well positioned to take the next steps to operationalize mature OA concepts while applying lessons learned from other government efforts and TSA’s innovation experience.

TSA’s OA vision is a connected transportation system of systems in which state-of-the-art solutions are quickly adopted to address emerging threats and enables a dynamic screening environment. TSA develops roadmaps and implementation plans to articulate a common vision for the TSA enterprise and our partners. The roadmap’s themes and objectives align with the Administrator’s Intent, released on July 6.  

For more information, read the Open Architectural Strategic Roadmap.