Federal Agencies Can Strike a Balance Between 5G's Risks and Benefits.

• Author: Fernandez, Felipe
• Position: Industry Perspective

* U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the largest law enforcement agency in the country, with more than 60,000 employees. Some 20,000 of those employees are Border Patrol agents, responsible for thousands of miles of U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, U.S. shorelines and more than 300 ports.

It's a big job, to say the least. One that agents must perform while chronically understaffed, according to officials. But what if technology could help shore up staffing shortages with "smart borders," high-speed data processing and edge computing?

The federal government is on the cusp of 5G-driven transformation that, while aligned with broader modernization efforts, could fundamentally change operations at the edge. And that edge could be a U.S. port or border, a battlefield, disaster zone, or inspection locations across the country. Regardless of locale, 5G's ability to transfer data and communications faster is a game-changer--and in some cases, a lifesaver.

Real-time visibility and real-time control of a remote system --say, drones that augment border security, or automated capabilities that accelerate health care services --can provide agencies with capabilities that heretofore required humans onsite, making decisions with comparatively limited information. With high-speed connectivity, sensor data can fast-track operational agility and decisionmaking. This compounds the effectiveness of the government's field operators, improving situational awareness and alleviating delays and bottlenecks that mount amid poor or no connectivity.

More data, from streams of video and other sources, will create even greater demand on the agency's networks. It's a challenge CBP leadership alluded to in their 2021 -2026 strategy, which outlines broader plans to increase situational awareness, integrate and analyze interagency data, and invest in tactical and operational mobility.

"We do want to increase our mobility position, take advantage of 5G for those edge devices that rely on wireless connectivity, [and get] the data in real time to our officers out in the field. Our strategy is to move as much of that computing power out to the device itself," Christopher Wurst, CBP's executive director for enterprise networks and technology support, said at a recent event. 'What we can do to move some of that data processing out to the edge is definitely in our roadmap."

But amid heightened supply chain concerns and high-profile cyberattacks, edge computing and 5G...