Thales seeks broad range of technologies for aviation security competition

£50,000 prize fund that will allow ideas to be developed and tested up for grabs

Defence firm Thales has given more information on the technologies and processes it hopes to identify as part of a £50,000 project to enhance aviation security.

The company is looking for ideas from business and academia to share in the prize fund, which will allow them to be trialled and developed. The project is backed by the Home Office. 

The ideas will be validated through trials and analysis, including tests at Manchester and Birmingham airports and synthetic environ­ments. The aim is to develop ideas that can be implemented relatively quickly, allowing companies and innovators to test aviation security ideas in real-life settings that they might not otherwise be able to access.

Paul Mottershead of Thales told PE that the competition aimed to have as broad a remit as possible. “We are not just looking for another type of scanner,” he said. He added that firms in sectors such as retail might have technologies that could be used to improve security at airports. Thales is also keen to develop ideas that could be used before travellers embark to the airport, such as in the process of booking flights. “We want as broad a range of ideas as possible,” Mottershead said. “For example, in retail there are some clever widgets that measure people’s sizes for clothes – it might be interesting to see how these could be applied to aviation security.”

Thales is leading the project, working closely with aviation and security experts from Olive Group, Human Recognition Systems, Global Security Challenge, the Smith Institute, the University of Cambridge and Manchester and Birmingham airports, and supported by a number of trade and industry associations.

Security Minister Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones said: “The threat to our security is real and is evolving, and technology can play a key role in reducing that threat. This project shows how the government is working with industry to find those innovative and emerging technologies.” 

Further information can be found at www.intellectuk.org/INSTINCT-TD2, by emailing INSTINCT-TD2@uk.thalesgroup.com, or registering for the industry day to be held in Central London on 19 August. 

The closing date for submissions is 21 August 2010.