Spotlights

The Office of Information and Technology (OIT) is proud to announce two new contracting opportunities, including initiatives that support small businesses. We will award two new multiple-award Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs): Enterprise Small Business (ESB) and Enterprise Business Management Support Services 2.0 (EBMSS 2.0). ESB is slated for award in the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, and EBMSS is anticipated to be awarded in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. OIT Supports Small Business Supporting all areas of the business community is important to OIT. Per the U.S. Small…

No rain was in the forecast when the 16th term of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade advisory committee met in Seattle on March 29. It also was smooth sailing indoors when the members of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee discussed the country’s most pressing trade issues at their first public meeting this year. The meeting opened with remarks delivered virtually by CBP Acting Deputy Commissioner Benjamine C. Huffman. “I’d like to start by noting a truly meaningful milestone for CBP. On March 1, CBP alongside the Department of Homeland Security, celebrated our 20th...

Last May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the Port of New York/New York seized numerous vials and vacuum sealed bags with unknown organic materials from a U.S. citizen traveling outbound to Narita, Japan. The subject identified himself as a professor at a public university, focused on stem cell research, and stated the samples were manufactured in a U.S. lab. Similar cases are happening all too often around the U.S., posing a serious threat to public safety, the U.S. economy, and American agriculture. As CBP continues to encounter biological materials, Office of…

Data is an asset to the U.S Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) mission and effectively harnessing key insights that this data offers in a timely fashion provides immense value for the safety of the nation and the ability to fulfill CBP’s mission. To achieve this enormous task, CBP has embraced the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to directly support fulfilling its mission across the enterprise. The Office of Information and Technology operates to provide IT products and services faster, better, more affordably and more securely at the speed of CBP’s 24/7 mission. The Office of...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) partners with the Department of Defense (DoD), SkillBridge internship program to provide transitioning servicemembers the opportunity to transition into permanent CBP positions at no cost to the agency.

On Aug. 14, 2021, the Taliban took control of the city of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Shortly thereafter, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would be evacuating over 100,000 people from Afghanistan. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), alongside other federal agencies, responded to the rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan and mobilized a comprehensive campaign called Operation Allies Welcome. CBP was asked to support OAW by providing personnel and technology to aid in processing evacuees. Office of Information and Technology (OIT) personnel deployed across the U.S. to provide...

Members of the 16th term Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, known as COAC, were recognized for their meaningful contributions when they gathered Wednesday for their last public meeting of the year in College Park, Maryland. “The COAC advises U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding regulations, policies or practices and provides critical feedback from the trade community on how these changes will impact the economy and global supply chain entities,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller, who co-chaired the proceedings. “We understand that even small changes on our end…

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Collections is the final ACE module that supports the enduring mission and priority of facilitating lawful trade and protecting revenue. ACE fulfills CBP’s goal to unite the revenue and trade entry lifecycles within a single window and retires the over 30-year-old Automated Commercial System (ACS). ACE enables end-to-end trade functions from entry to liquidation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, 368 million cargo entries and 20 million export shipments were processed through ACE, totaling $1.7 trillion. Also in FY...

Beginning on March 11, 2020, the U.S. began limiting the entry of individuals into the U.S. who posed a risk of transmitting the coronavirus. With 26 countries affected by the proclamation, CBP quickly faced a daunting challenge to screen a surge of incoming passengers. The National Counterterrorism Center (NTC) collaborated with the Office of Information and Technology’s (OIT) Robotic Process Automation (RPA) team to create a bot that helped expedite the screening processes. Three days after the proclamation, the RPA team built four automations that enabled CBP to get ahead of the rush of...

The momentum continued when members of the 16th term Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, known as COAC, gathered in Chicago on Sept. 14, for their third public meeting of the fiscal year. It was the first time U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade advisory committee held its quarterly meeting with in-person public participation since the beginning of the pandemic. “Thank you all for participating. These meetings are vitally important for public transparency, which is fundamental to our operations,” said CBP’s Deputy Commissioner Troy A. Miller, who co-chaired the…