UK immigration seeks tech support, development partner for border crossing systems

The UK's Home Office has launched a procurement for tech support and services to oversee border control and immigration via a contract estimated to be worth up to £195 million ($253 million).

A competition notice confirms the Home Office is looking for system management and development support partners for its Border Crossing system; its Borders Platforms unit; and Helios, which maintains and shares security watchlist data.

The existing applications run on diverse technological stacks and ... are expected to evolve over the next five years

Border Crossing is made up of Passenger Control Point (PCP) and allows Border Force officers to search passenger records using biometrics and documents. "In addition, checks take place on the passport chip to verify its validity. In the back-office BX Tools allows Border Force officers to investigate passengers more thoroughly, either before, during or after they have crossed the border," the procurement document states.

Meanwhile ...