Unisys, CSIRO partnering on threat analytics for cargo security

IT and software company Unisys Corp. announced that it will partner with Australia’s government-backed Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to develop software and technology that can analyze massive sets of data to identify risks posed by both passengers and cargo.

The program, called “Data61,” is a research collaboration that partners industries and universities in pursuit of data-backed economic, societal and environmental outcomes. The CSIRO-Unisys collaboration will focus on “automated security risk assessment of travelers and cargo at air, land and sea borders” via advanced data analytics.

Under agreement, Unisys will fund joint research with Data61 to develop a data analytics program to detect border security risks posed by travelers, visa applicants, cargo and parcels. The American IT company already has extensive border security analytics experience, as well as a history of software development for cargo management, including in air cargo.

Researchers will study data sets from airlines using analytics and machine learning to “identify patterns that indicate potential risks of both traveler intent and cargo contents.”

“Unisys’ deep domain expertise and global reach, combined with Data61’s analytics and machine learning capabilities, provides a unique opportunity to advance border security technology around the world during a time of increasingly sophisticated threats and greater dependence on international travel and cargo shipments,” said Mark Forman, global head and vice president for the public sector at Unisys.

John Kendall, global border security director at Unisys, said Data61 would push the boundaries of, “machine learning and real-time data analytics to reveal the actual intent of travelers and shippers.” He added that, “this will allow border agencies to automate the processing of low-risk people and cargo, while reserving specialized border-security resources for the small percentage of travelers and cargo that present a higher-risk profile.”