Speaking at an American Council for Technology occasion final week, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Chief Information Officer Yemi Oshinnaiye stated he’s creating positions for a Chief Technology Officer and a Chief Data Officer at TSA.

It might come as a shock to some to be taught that TSA doesn’t presently have a devoted CTO and CDO, with a lot of those obligations as an alternative falling to Oshinnaiye and his group. Oshinnaiye was appointed because the Chief Information Officer for TSA in May 2022. He is liable for Information Technology software program supply and help, innovation, cybersecurity and all aspects of IT resourcing that TSA makes use of to perform its mission. 

TSA did have a delegated a CTO within the early 2010s, Executive Vice President at K2 Security Screening Group and former Acting Assistant Administrator for the TSA Office of Requirements and Capabilities Analysis, Steve Karoly informed HSToday. “At that time, the CTO focused on improving the detection and false alarm capabilities of TSA’s explosive detection technologies.”

“On my side right now at TSA, we don’t have a CTO or a CDO,” Oshinnaiye stated throughout his keynote speech on the ACT-Industry Advisory Council Digital Transformation Summit on Feb. 22. “I’m creating them because that’s something we need.”

Karoly defined that in 2016 TSA created the Innovation Task Force and two years later established the Chief Innovation Officer place. Then, in 2019, organizations inside the federal authorities have been required to designate a CDO who’s charged with main their organizations to leverage the ability of knowledge. 

MeriTalk, which co-organized the occasion with ACT-IAC, reported that Oshinnaiye indicated that each the CTO and CDO positions are crucial to work alongside a CIO to additional digital transformation. Collaboration, he stated, is the important thing. “We have to get better at connecting fluidly so we can get to the place we call transformation,” Oshinnaiye stated.

Karoly informed us that TSA has a plethora of knowledge to allow higher data-driven choices inside TSA operations within the discipline and inside the on a regular basis operating of TSA enterprise. His colleague, Keith Jeffries, Vice President of K2 Security Screening Group and former Federal Security Director at Los Angeles International Airport stated the creation of the CTO and CDO positions enable TSA to stay ahead considering. “By creating these two new positions, TSA remains dedicated to staying in front of emerging threats to the transportation system,” Jeffries stated. “As the threat evolves, TSA must remain forward thinking and flexible. These two positions are a step in that direction. In my opinion, these positions ensure that the TSA has a disciplined approach to identifying technologies that it may need or consider to remain ahead of emerging threats.”

Oshinnaiye additionally stated on the occasion that he’s searching for expertise options that may assist with the Transportation Security Officer (TSO) workload, after spending a number of weeks visiting TSA checkpoints across the nation to acquire an updated working image of the obligations of TSOs.

“Human error is a reality and new technologies will not only help to better identify threats, it will also decrease the human error element and increase operational efficiencies as well,” Jeffries informed us.

Karoly added that TSA has been taking a look at and assessing new applied sciences for the previous a number of years to assist cut back the TSO workload. “Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) applications, machine learning (ML), and the use of process automated software are some of the technologies that will be/are being implemented to help the TSO with the execution of their tasks.” 

The use of TSA’s Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) techniques is a superb instance of how a expertise can be utilized to scale back the TSO workload whereas enhancing the passenger expertise. “These, and other, technologies will allow the TSO to better focus on what’s important…security screening tasks.” Karoly stated.

He underscored the significance of balanced funding. “Getting to the following degree of enhancements in safety effectiveness and safety effectivity would require a disciplined and aware effort in sustaining the stability of safety’s three-legged stool: expertise, individuals, and doctrines/procedures. 

“An equal Investment in all three of these legs is a necessity for the stool to stay balanced. Too a lot funding in a single and never sufficient funding in one other will trigger the stool to wobble and presumably fall over. Technology modifications to current deployed techniques and the introduction of recent applied sciences are each wanted to maintain tempo with the menace. 

“Ensuring proper resources are provided to the TSA to implement its workforce strategy of retaining, recruiting, and training the TSO workforce is just as important as the investments it devotes to technology. Security doctrines and security procedures provide the guidance that TSO’s need to execute their mission.”