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Project Highlight:

Winbourne & Costas, Inc. is a member of the team led by IBM to update the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) information system.  This initiative, known as the e Customs Partnership (eCP) is a multiyear, multibillion-dollar acquisition of a new trade processing system planned to support the movement of legitimate imports and exports and strengthen border security. A major component of the system is the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) program. ACE is CBP's new trade system. The program's goals include facilitating the movement of legitimate trade through more effective trade account management and strengthening border security by identifying import and export transactions that have an elevated risk of posing a threat to the United States.  Goals as specified by CBP are:

  • Enhanced Border Protection based in knowledge management
  • Interagency shared information, risk assessment and targeting prior to arrival in US
  • All import, export and in-transit transactions included
  • Single web-based interface for the trade community
  • Expediting low risk shipments, moving goods to market at lower cost
  • ACE development and the Container Security Initiative

Our firm has supplied personnel in a variety of management and technical roles for this project in three general areas to this project include

  • Project strategy with the executive team in charge of the engagement
  • Programming and enterprise architecture support to the end products
  • Network and help desk service to the project team

This successful project is in the second of three, 5-year phases.   Progress to this point includes the successful fielding of the ACE system at several land points of entry.  Winbourne & Costas, Inc., Inc. is project manager for this fielding. Currently, ACE has been phased in at select locations along the Canada/US and US/Mexican border. It is operational at entruy points such as Pembina, North Dakota, Port Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Canada, Port Huron, Michigan, Buffalo, NY and Lewiston, NY.  Current installations are in progress along the southern US Border.  Our staff is also heavily involved in a new phase of the project beginning in the Summer of 2006 to develop and deploy ACE modules for ocean ports of entry.