What problems do you see emerging from a project such as SBInet where the government allows the contractor to determine scope, manage all contractor relations, and decide how to share project status information with oversight bodies? On January 14, 2011, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano made it official: the Virtual Fence Project was to be officially canceled. In her statement explaining the decision, Napolitano cited the difficulty of creating a unified, fully integrated security system and promised to “pursue a new path forward.” What was left unsaid were the reasons that led to the final decision—principally, a too-complicated technical system that did not work and was leading to ballooning costs.

Illegal crossing into the United States along the Mexican border has reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Fear of drug smuggling, illegal aliens, and possible terrorist incursions have made the issue of homeland security one of the major “hot buttons” in the political arena, both in Washington, DC and in states located along the southern border, as well as those in proximity to Canada. The problem is compounded by the sheer sizes of the borders involved. The Mexico/U.S.

border runs for nearly 2,000 miles, much of it across desert wastelands and other inhospitable and remote areas.

Establishing any sort of border security in the wake of the 9/11 attacks is a national necessity, but it is a daunting and difficult task.