Sandia’s extensive expertise in the design, development, and evaluation of physical protection systems (PPSs) also plays an important role in Border Risk management, where the scope of activity plays out on a much larger and more complex scale. However, PPSs are just one subsystem within a larger system when it comes to border security and risk management.
An effective border risk management system allows legitimate trade and traffic; it facilitates the legal migration and flow of people and expedites legitimate bulk-trade and containerized cargo at ports of entry. This border system must also strive to detect and prohibit all illicit activities that violate national sovereignty such as human trafficking, illegal migration, and the smuggling of prohibited or harmful items such as drugs, firearms, and weapons of mass destruction or their components.
Understanding the complex, dynamic system of systems present in an international border region requires careful attention be paid identifying and defining individual subsystems within the overarching border system. These subsystems may be broken down geographically, regionally, and organizationally or by limitations on resources and operational capabilities (e.g., finances, manpower, technology, and time).