Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Harness Key Insights at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in 2023

Disclaimer: The opinions and ideas expressed herein in this article are expressly my own views, prepared on my own time, and do not officially reflect of those of where I work.

CBP is pragmatically using AI in support of its 24/7 Mission. Four Articles on CBP.gov from 2022-2023 Highlight this Work:

"Artificial Intelligence Turns the Tide on Securing Northern Border Waterways" by Paul Koscak

Key Excerpt(s): "Security along the Canadian border from Buffalo, New York, to Detroit and north to Port Huron, Michigan — a more than 360-mile stretch entirely separated by water — has been challenging. In a region awash with numerous marinas, thousands of pleasure craft, and hideaway canals and channels that reach deep into shoreline neighborhoods, identifying and catching lawbreakers can feel overwhelming.??

For years, catching smugglers, drug runners and the like trying to slip through the border hinged on estimating when and where illegal activity would be likely.

“Agents relied on local knowledge and local connections,” said Jonathan Lake, supervisory law enforcement information systems specialist in the Buffalo sector.

That’s changed.

Now, 22 sites of high-resolution cameras and radar driven by artificial intelligence — called the Northern Border Remote Video Surveillance System or NBRVSS — adds critical capability to Border Patrol operations. Sites are strategically placed along that waterway for maximum coverage.

Information from the system is also shared with Canadian border security officials by Border Patrol agents who work at the Marine Security Operations Centres in St. Catherines, Ontario. The centres are a multi-agency security and law enforcement operation.

To advance that partnership along with border security, the Border Patrol plans eventually to crew its patrol boats with both Border Patrol and Canadian border agents as members of the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard do."

[Source: https://www.cbp.gov/frontline/cbp-artificial-intelligence; Published January 4, 2022]

"CBP OIT Year in Review FY2022: Artificial Intelligence Center of Innovation (AI COI)"

Key excerpt: "Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability for machines to solve?problems and perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence and action. AI allows humans to do more critical thinking, while leveraging machines for more routine computational tasks. Over the last year, the AI COI team of data scientists and data?engineers have worked closely with mission offices on pilottechnologies, processes, and tools that support data enrichment, annotation, ecosystem, and AI solutions that could be scaled for the CBP enterprise.

• Video and image redaction and segmentation builds object detection models to automatically identify frames where objects are detected, label the detected object, and perform redaction on?the frame. This enables automated identification and redaction of sensitive information such as PII which significantly reduces the?amount of manual search and review.
• People identification in streaming video deploys analytic?models that automatically detect and track activities at and near a site. This enables real-time alerts to operators, increasing the effectiveness of existing surveillance platforms and decreasing cognitive load of personnel.
• Patterns in movement visualization-analytics leverages data to develop analytic output for further exploration, helping us to better understand movement activity and patterns, enabling visualization of these movement patterns, and integrating streaming data.
• Optimized search engine for improved vetting is automatic ingestion of reporting data, which optimizes search enabling improved vetting and reduced vetting lag time, creating the ability to research and visualize?connections as well as eliminate manual file transfers.
• Data annotation provides data with categories, labels, and other contextual elements so machines can read and act upon the information returning higher-quality results for search queries and analysis.

OIT coordinated with the CBP Innovation Team (INVNT) to manage 57 active projects with 12 projects started in FY 2022. Almost half of the funded projects in FY 2022 had a mission focus area in AI & Analytics and Autonomy. Eight projects were transferred to new program and business owners including:

• Data Analytics Platform:?Machine learning and AI algorithms used for correlation, fusion, and analytics of multi-modal data
• Counter Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CSUAS):?Capability designed to detect, track, and identify sUAS conducting illicit cross-border activity
• Autonomous Surveillance Towers - Maritime Variant: Relocatable system that autonomously detects, identify, classifies, and tracks items of interest in the marine domain
• Low Bandwidth Satellite Connectivity:?Global Satellite Hotspot for low-bandwidth data transmission in remote locations
• Supply Chain Analytics Platform:?Collects and structures public supply chain data from various areas around the globe
• Hybrid Communications:?A network used to create communications architectures that enables data sharing
• Computer Vision Enhancements:?Advanced Analytics for Camera Streams and Alerting of Camera Operators when items of interest are detected
• Tethered Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (TSUAS),?Data/Radio Communications: Persistent data and voice communications with flexible deployment options providing tactical, mobile, and fixed applications"

[Source: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2023-Jan/2022-cbp-oit-yir.pdf; Published January 24, 2023; Pages 28-29]

"CBP Innovation Team"

Key Excerpt: "The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Innovation Team (INVNT) resides within CBPs Office of the Commissioner to identify, adapt, and deliver innovative and disruptive commercial technology solutions to keep front-line personnel safer, more effective, and one step ahead. INVNT identifies and pilots cutting-edge commercial technologies, adapts them for government use, and transitions proven capabilities – all while moving at the pace of commercial industry. Al & Analytics is one of six focus areas to Automate workflows, expose anomalies, and derive greater insight from data.

[Source: https://www.cbp.gov/about/cbp-innovation-team; Published January 30, 2023]

"Artificial Intelligence To Harness Key Insights For CBP"

Article: "Data is an asset to the U.S Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mission and effectively harnessing key insights that this data offers in a timely fashion provides immense value for the safety of the nation and the ability to fulfill CBP’s mission.

To achieve this enormous task, CBP has embraced the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to directly support fulfilling its mission across the enterprise. The Office of Information and Technology operates to provide IT products and services faster, better, more affordably and more securely at the speed of CBP’s 24/7 mission. The Office of Information and Technology implemented the enterprise AI Machine Learning Center of Excellence to lead strategic transformation, tactical mission operations excellence and innovation with data for CBP’s daily mission in multiple use cases, while seeking to establish commensurate governance and ethical oversight approaches in this new, powerful technology.

We are working to evolve CBP to a more data-driven organization where CBP is rapidly expanding and accelerating the operational use of AI smartly across the entire agency to achieve real mission outcomes guided by responsible AI principles.

Artificial Intelligence Center of Innovation

In 2022, the CBP established the AI Center of Innovation to rapidly build a scalable foundation?that leverages AI and exploits the terabytes of data CBP captures for its?toughest mission problems. Partnering with the larger AI community, to include industry, academia, other government organizations, the CBP team of data scientists and data?engineers works?closely across CBP to?assess technologies, processes,?and tools?that support data enrichment, annotation, ecosystem, and AI solutions that?can be scaled for the CBP enterprise. For example:?

• Video and image redaction.?Building object detection models to automatically identify frames where objects are detected, label the detected object, and perform redaction on frames that contain sensitive information (e.g., personally identifiable information).
• Object identification in streaming video. Deployment of AI models to cameras to automatically detect and track after-hours activities, providing real-time alerts to operators and increasing the effectiveness of existing surveillance platforms and decreasing cognitive load of CBP personnel.
• Increased efficiency and throughput.??Better detection by reducing false positives for inspection. Deployment of AI models to assist CBP officers screening for contraband and anomaly detection in passenger vehicles and cargo conveyances.?
• Data categories and labels. Data annotation provides data with contextual elements like categories and labels, which machines can read and act upon to produce higher-quality results for search queries and analysis.

People are at the core of CBP’s mission prioritize “Responsible AI,” which means employing AI in a manner that respects human dignity, rights, and freedoms. CBP provides appropriate transparency regarding our AI methods, applications, and use. We develop and employ best practices for maximizing reliability, security, and the accuracy of AI design, development, and use.

Leveraging AI is a CBP journey that requires both short- and long-term strategies, and CBP is working to ensure that today’s technologies are used to prepare for tomorrow’s system enhancements and mission needs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the comprehensive management, control, and protection of our nation’s borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry."

[Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/spotlights/artificial-intelligence-harness-key-insights-cbp; Published March 24, 2023]

In Summary...CBP's INVNT and OIT's AI COI are Empowering Mission Stakeholders to Use AI/ML/NLP to Drive Mission Success

• AI/ML/NLP is one of the many key technologies that has made rapid strides and progress with the potential to show positive mission impact in exceptionally quick time, with appropriate focus on ethics/governance.
• The INVNT Team is enabling Innovation across the CBP enterprise. CBP OIT is partnering with INVNT to bring innovation to key areas at the speed of Mission. CBP is also supporting DHS CIO/CTO efforts in AI.
• The CBP Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is a direct report to the AC/OIT and CBP CIO and was empowered and tasked to lead and co-create this program "organically" within CBP. The CBP CIO And CTO achieved this by creating an AI/ML Center of Innovation (COI), which is a Community of Practice for the CBP enterprise. The AI COI seeks to teach mission stakeholders "how to fish" using data/tools/processes; register the approved work in a registry/dashboard to track and celebrate progress; and build momentum by "thinking big, starting small, providing/proving value, and gaining street credentials".
• The results have been staggering in a relatively short timeframe: currently in FY23, CBP OIT is tracking 51 AI/ML projects, that are already registered, completed and/or underway. These projects are within an established community of practice that is quickly increasing in size with exceptionally positive "street credentials" and reputation earned from agents/officers/analysts. This positive feedback is through direct participation in OIT's helpful and professional approach focused on agile delivery and results. The "word of mouth" appreciation has also been helpful as we have improved communications and outreach.
• It is amazing to witness the achievements and methodology that CBP is utilizing, so far. Stay tuned for future articles and the FY 2023 CBP OIT Year in Review Report for more details on the many exciting technologies and innovations underway using AI/ML/NLP with a concomitant focus on Governance across CBP.

#dhs #cbp?#cio?#innovation?#leadership?#ai?#artificialintelligence #borderpatrol?#bordersecurity #GovIT?#PublicSector #homelandsecurity?#emergingtech?#digitaltransformation?#futuretrends?#tech?#techtrends?#technology? #CBPTrade?#tradematters?#cbpproud #data Sunil Madhugiri Trang Tran Michelle Zebrowski