In today’s post-Sept. 11 world, security checkpoints are the norm. Before you can get on an airplane, enter a government building or even mail a package, an X-ray machine comes into play. It is estimated that 4 billion items will pass through security X-ray machines by 2010.
That figure is what Reston-based Security Knowledge Solutions is hoping to capitalize on with its new product i-Screen. The Web-based technology provides training for security screeners with a simulated X-ray machine that mimics real world conditions. Trainees are taught to quickly spot “threat items,” such as guns,knives and homemade bombs, among luggage, purses, packages and other commonly screened items.
“We have to keep ahead of [terrorist threats] and training these guys is a big part of that,” said SKS CEO Glenn Bartholomew.
While several big-name corporations have largely cornered the market on security X-ray machines, the untapped security training market — which is always evolving as the technology and threats both get more sophisticated — is where the money is, said Bartholomew.
“The technology is far outstripping the people’s ability to use it,” he said. “These are the guys that last week were working night shift at the warehouse and now this week they’re protecting people. The technology has changed, but the person hasn’t.”
Bartholomew, along with CTO Greg Goodrich and Vice President of Sales Erica Masles, founded Security Knowledge Solutions in October 2006. The trio previously worked together at U.K.-based SmartApproach, a security solutions company that is now their competitor.
Security Knowledge Solutions stands out in the marketplace, Bartholomew said, with the flexibility its patent-pending technology provides to clients. Unlike its competitors — which primarily provide software for classroom training — i-Screen is Web-based and can provide training anywhere in the world for millions of screeners.
That’s also where they’ll make their money. i-Screen is sold on a user-by-user basis. Each log-in costs $350 and one X-ray machine alone typically sees eight to 15 operators in a 24-hour period.
“There’s so many places you have to go through an X-ray machine,” Bartholomew said. “The training and support is just not there yet … that’s our opportunity.”
Finding a clientele
Security Knowledge Solutions clients Include:
» Astrophysics Inc.: A California-based security X-ray machine manufacturer that exclusively provided equipment for the 2006 Winter Olympics. SKS will provide i-Screen with all of Astrophysics machines.
» The U.S. Army: SKS secured the Army as a client in March. They are currently using it to train screeners at a base in Birmingham, Ala.
» SKS is also working with a federal security agency and hopes to announce the partnership soon.
