Unisys to deliver Australia's new border clearance platform

The Immigration department has selected IT provider Unisys to deliver its new platform for clearing incoming and departing travellers at Australia's borders.

The four-year, $1.8 million deal will see Unisys implement and deliver a system intended to speed up the processing of travellers.

The project has been underway since July 2014, when the then-Customs department revealed it wanted a new solution that would ascertain whether an individual was eligible to enter or leave Australia.

Initially the platform will process travellers at air and sea ports, and is expected to later be expanded to process clearances for vessels and cargo.

Immigration had engaged Accenture and Unisys in late 2014 to conduct separate four-month-long proofs of concept to test out various technologies and implementation methods.

The PoCs formed the department's business case for the platform and its specifications for an approach to market for a systems integrator partner.

iTnews can reveal Immigration recently selected Unisys to roll out the new platform.

The provider has been asked to deliver the underlying Pegasystems and Quintiq technology for the platform, despite Unisys' proof of concept showcasing an SAP and Clicksoft solution. 

The department would only say the outcome of the proofs of concept had informed the decision to go with Pegasystems and Quintiq.

The first stage of the platform is scheduled to go live in March 2017.

The new border clearance platform will result in the retiring of three legacy systems. Immigration's passenger analysis, clearance and evaluation (PACE) systems; its CAPS resource scheduler; and its bag check results recording platform will all be replaced and decommissioned.

The platform will provide functionality for planning and scheduling, process automation and case management, identity resolution and master data management, and a console for the remote monitoring and controlling of biometric e-gates.

It will be able to match a traveller's information against international watchlists and department risk profiling when they book a ticket or apply for a visa.

A risk profile assigned to each traveller will inform how easily they are able to pass through border clearance.

It is the department's response to projected growth in traveller numbers and cargo transactions over the next ten years; Immigration expects the solution will allow for greater automation and therefore increase the efficiency of Australia's borders.