Annex 34
THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY OVERSEAS TO ASSIST
ALOs
The Airline Liaison Officer (ALO) network is heavily
dependent on receiving immediate notification of Inadequately
Documented Arrivals (IDAs) who reach the UK having embarked from
one of their locations. This information enables the ALOs not
only to quickly establish what method may have been used to circumvent
the controls in place but also, in the case of forged or counterfeit
documents, to warn the airlines of emerging trends.
In the early days the Carriers Liaison Unit
(CLU), the operational headquarters of the network, had little
option but to use telephones and faxes to convey the required
data but, where documentation was concerned, the quality of the
product received was less than ideal. The more or less simultaneous
roll-out of the FIRECREST and POISE computer systems in the Foreign
Office and the Home Office respectively has enabled full use to
be made of Information Technology, in particular e-mail. As well
as being ideal for transmitting near perfect reproductions of
suspect documents, generally e-mail allows the ALOs to maintain
simultaneous contact with each other and the CLU, an extremely
useful tool for tracking, for instance, large groups of IDAs.
Similarly Entry Clearance sections can also communicate easily
with colleagues around the world through the Firecrest computer
system.
A core function of the ALOs is to provide training
for carriers in UK passport and visa requirements and we are constantly
looking at ways to enhance the quality, and thus the impact, of
their presentations. Agreement has been reached in principle to
replace the existing 35mm slide projectors with laptop computers
and data projectors. This will enable individual ALOs to quickly
and easily adapt their presentations to take account of the differing
needs of their audiences. An additional benefit is that by using
scanners and digital cameras, which will be provided where necessary,
images of forged counterfeit documents encountered in the field
can also be included.
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