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N.D. eyes border security project

A ‘‘smart border” security project using remote sensors, cameras, unmanned aircraft and other technology is being proposed along the North Dakota-Canadian line.

Gov. John Hoeven and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., have asked for up to $40 million from the Department of Homeland Security to begin a one-year test project along a 90-mile stretch.

By DAVE KOLPACK – Associated Press Writer

http://helenair.com/articles/2004/05/19/montana/a10051904_01.txt

‘‘They know we’ve got a porous border,” Conrad said on Tuesday. ‘‘One of the things that has really caught their attention is the advanced software to determine what your sensors are telling you.”

Current sensors have difficulty telling the difference between a terrorist and a moose, Conrad said.

California-based Computer Science Corp. is spearheading the new border project. It would involve up to 40 people, including researchers from the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University.

The pledged cooperation among local, state and federal agencies should help secure funding and lead to more research and development jobs, Hoeven said.

‘‘It’s great to have all these players together,” he said.

UND President Charles Kupchella said some of the smaller port of entries between North Dakota and Canada had been closed only with orange traffic cones.

‘‘What we’re talking about here is a far cry from a couple of orange cones in the middle of the road,” Kupchella said. ‘‘This will obviously be an important technology not just for North Dakota, not just for this country, but surely for the whole world.”

The project also could give North Dakota an advantage for future technology ventures, said Cory Finneman, state Department of Commerce spokesman.

‘‘It’s that exposure that the Department of Commerce is most interested in,” Finneman said.

The operating center for the test project would likely be located in Grand Forks, Finneman said.

The technology would create a border security system that could be used as the model, Conrad said. It would enable authorities to cover more ground with fewer people.

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