BI's Viado to Meet IBMATA's Ayley To Address PH Border Management Challenges

 

While the Philippines sit on Earth's equator, it's total coastline is 22,548 miles which means management of it would prove challenging for any entity. This week, the International Border Management and Technologies Association's CEO Sharon Ayley will be in talks with the PH Bureau of Immigration very own Commissioner Anthony Viado to take serious steps in addressing what the Philippines is facing with regards to trafficking, security and border practices. 

Ayley says "We hold summits in 5 regions, find information and solutions. Trafficking is an important issue, and there's a need to talk about it, need to communicate not just for professionals but the community. Parents need to talk to children as they are targeting vulnerable people. The best way to protect themselves is by being informed. IBMATA does a series of workshops for this particular subject and this isn't an isolated issue in the Philippines, it is a global problem. The output of that is that technology can help with the problem, to protect the vulnerable people." 

She adds "With advanced analytics and AI tools, it can help us identify unusual travel patterns. It also helps monitoring watch lists, but it's not 100 percent. People in the front lines are working at higher pressure and have to make critical decisions. We need to make sure they have the tools, technology to make sure they have the information and trust their instincts. We need to get them training, help and support that they need."

Here's our talk about PH border challenges, and a few things that the country is doing good at; 

She puts emphasis on the country having multiple ports of entry (we have 7160 islands++) which makes it extra hard to do. She suggests to have it done with standards on each border. With systems in place like biometrics, and e-gates (where I think BI is already doing). This puts legitimate travelers with lesser hindrance so border agents get to concentrate on bigger issues like high risk cases to combat trafficking and other matters. It is here and is happening, we are 2nd globally according to statistics. 

She also suggests data sharing with not just government offices, but other ports elsewhere in the world (with ample security) and see it real time. This also includes biometrics to lessen identification concerns. This will also stop exploitation, and hopefully will put a stop with the issues mentioned earlier. Education, access to information is certainly the first line of defense. They have plans to hold future events and might take on other organization to help host it.

 

Here's hoping that the things they'll be covering this week will get some questions answered and actionable items be accomplished.