As political developments in our part of the world play out, it is reasonable to assume that terrorism will continue all over the region and civil aviation is an obvious "soft" target. With terrorism getting increasingly sophisticated and technology-intensive, methods of security control will need to be correspondingly upgraded as rapidly as possible. Prior intelligence and quick positive identification of known suspects thus seem to offer the best protection against such elements and their support networks.

At the same time, airline traffic continues to grow. Future growth in the Asian region is projected at 15-18 per cent per annum and air cargo is expanding rapidly as well. This means moving progressively larger passenger and cargo volumes through air terminals rapidly, without unduly compromising on security issues.

In addition, this needs to be achieved with minimal intrusion. This latter aspect will, in fact, be a factor in the future commercial success of an airport, and ultimately, of the destinations that it serves. The business world is already reacting negatively to the stringent new screening procedures that are being progressively introduced at US airports in recent years. International business growth in the US is adversely affected as a consequence, and is reflected in the fact that fewer passengers came into the US in 2007 than in the year preceding  9/11.

The answer lies in harnessing the latest technology and installing systems that ensure quick, foolproof, and non-intrusive identification of every person or package entering terminals and aircraft.

Our present security systems still depend heavily on security personnel checking and searching people and packages at all entry points. Their real inputs, however, come from focused intelligence that directs them to check specific people or packages. Experience shows that the use of manpower to man access gates is subject to significant error rates, and some porosity as well.

Manpower training, motivation, and efficiency are all variables that increase error rates. Consequently we need to move progressively towards automated entry gates activated by biometric card/document readers that record and retain particulars of all people passing through them. Ultimately, in such a system, the human interface would be confined to quick intervention teams who would respond to an alarm triggered at any particular gate.

To do this, we need to:

• Establish a common biometric that is accepted globally.
• Establish common software and secure communication protocols that would, for example, enable passenger manifests being cross-checked against existing data banks held by the police in real time, that is, before the aircraft actually takes off, and when required, transmitted to a destination airport within India as well.
• Establish equipment that is compatible with that in use in the major destinations in the world.

Aviation authorities all over the world are engaged in evolving new technology to be built into the screening equipment, as well as updating the security processes and methods presently in use, to reduce threats to airports and aircraft. While the Indian aviation security authorities are hopefully keeping themselves abreast of, and involved in, these exercises at the global level, two imperatives are clear:

• The real-time integration of passenger identification at all airports with police databases within the country. This can only happen through the adoption of a common technology and database within the country.
• The adoption of compatible technology and inking of appropriate agreements to enable continuous and real-time access to databases in use at major airports across the world.

With the rapid advent of technology in scanning and remote sensing, and the highly efficient communication systems now available, security-related data can be generated and transmitted almost instantaneously to any point of the globe. In fact, through the progressive introduction of the Advance Passenger Information system, immigration authorities here will soon receive detailed information on all passengers and crew coming in on an international flight well in advance of its landing.

As such information is effectively coupled with the fast data processing capabilities now available, the quality of intelligence will be substantially upgraded, while making the transit of incoming passengers through the airport much quicker and smoother.

However, to facilitate this, and extend it to our domestic network as well, we need to rethink the present system from the ground up, and most importantly, do this in close association with the global community. There have been reports that the US is planning to make machine-readable travel documents mandatory in the near future - but the equipment specifications and software compatible with other systems has not yet been standardised.

Fortunately, most countries are already thinking along these lines, with the EU and the US actively discussing and putting in place a much more sophisticated and comprehensive monitoring system.

The key to international security would thus lie in the creation of a common international database that includes a common biometric parameter. This is needed to counter the emergence of the "global terrorist" who is willing and able to travel anywhere in the world to achieve his objectives, usually by flying the airlines of the world!

The Delhi transport authorities are now using an index finger scan that is encoded on the driving licences that it issues. Before expanding and deepening such a system, however, it is important to agree on a common global standard biometric.

As soon as this is established, then, apart from this being embedded in our passports and visas, all our driving licences, voter identity cards and PAN cards should adopt them too. Once completed, all our systems would become vastly more secure, and cost-effective because the same access control systems and equipment could also be replicated at bus depots, railway stations, power stations, and so on.

A logical extension of this could be to integrate this database with the voter identification card and PAN being introduced all over the country by tax authorities.

With this in place, we can introduce automated security gates at all our major airports that are activated by biometric recognition technology, and can store information of passengers passing through them for up to a fortnight.

The screening of checked baggage and cargo is already being carried out - the only need is to upgrade the existing equipment and also increase equipment capacity and speed to eliminate delays.

All of the foregoing issues lead to one conclusion - aviation security has now become a specialised, technology-intensive subject that can best be manned by a small, well-educated and highly trained force, with close working links with their counterparts all over the world.

Their equipment, training and work methods have to be clearly distinct from that of conventional policing, so the organisational structure, induction qualifications and career patterns will necessarily have to be different as well.

To conclude, we need to fundamentally rethink our aviation security strategy, bring in new equipment and terminal modifications needed, and do this quickly through a special aviation security force that is raised, trained and functions independently, with direct links to the national security agencies.

At the same time, we need to push for establishing a common international biometric with standardised  screening equipment and secure communication protocols.