Borderpol executive director Thomas Tass said, "In any given country, management of border security can involve a number of agencies. Each agency is responsible for its own particular aspect of border security and operating its own independently developed computer network. This makes effective information sharing, even within the same country, difficult if not sometimes impossible."

He went on to say "The problem of information sharing becomes worse as you cross international boundaries. There is no formal mechanism in place for sharing information between nation states and their border agencies; this represents a major weakness in international border security. SAFEBORDER.Net is designed to address that weakness."

Development of SAFEBORDER.Net will be rolled out in three phases.

Phase one of development is already well advanced and will see the launch of a global password protected extranet available to any law enforcement practitioners or agencies involved in border security. Here they will be able to share information on education, training, doctrine, best practice and more specific information about criminal gangs, terrorist organizations, their structure and modus operandi. It will also include other useful features like a forum, equipment database and events calendar.

Phase two will include an e-learning programme, the purpose being to set and raise standards across the global border enforcement community and create an internationally recognised qualification.

Phase three will introduce "bad guy" information sharing. This will involve each member country and agency using the SAFEBORDER.Net interface to share profile information on known criminals and terrorists.

Mr. Tass said "The project leader is our PR and Communications Officer Tony Kingham and he will be responsible for making Phase One go live before the end of this financial year."

SAFEBORDER.Net is an entirely self funded Borderpol initiative and in the absence of funding from governments, BORDERPOL is actively seeking corporate sponsorship to continue development of the network.

Mr Tass said, once live SAFEBORDER.Net will represent a major step forward in border security and will be a key tool in making global borders safer for our citizens.