Accenture Homeland Security win worth up to $10bn

The US Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday that it had awarded Accenture a contract worth up to $10bn for help in upgrading the nation's system for tracking visitors.

Accenture, which provides IT services, beat out rivals Lockheed Martin and Computer Sciences to become the prime contractor for a federal programme called US-VISIT. The programme aims to capture and share data - including biometric data - on foreign visitors.

"This award marks an important milestone in the history of Homeland Security and the US-VISIT Program," said a statement from Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of border and transportation security for the Department of Homeland Security. "By harnessing the power of the best minds in the private sector, we have taken a major step toward accomplishing our goals of enhancing the security of our country while increasing efficiency at our borders."

The contract covers a base period of five years, with five one-year options. The contract value is for a minimum of $10m and a maximum of $10bn. Accenture is slated to provide a range of services including strategic support, design and integration activities, training and "organizational change management".

The US-VISIT programme is part of a broader push by the federal government to improve security in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Some of the efforts have led to privacy concerns.

In addition, some critics say a "visa-processing quagmire" exists and call for reforms to better welcome foreign students, scientists and scholars.

The US-VISIT programme now requires that most foreign visitors travelling to the US on a visa and arriving at an airport or seaport have the prints of their two index fingers scanned and a digital photograph taken to verify their identity at the port of entry.

Since implementing US-VISIT entry capabilities at 115 airports and 14 seaports on 5 January, more than 4.5 million foreign nationals have been processed without their wait times being adversely affected, the department said. The programme has helped the federal government intercept more than 500 persons with prior or suspected criminal or immigration violations, the department said.

Ed Frauenheim writes for CNET News.com.