Frontex Research and Development Unit (RDU) invites relevant experts to express their interest to participate as a member of the External Quality Assurance Group for the project IDCHECK 2013 on Research on countering identity and document fraud and improving tactical/operational risk assessment in the first line of border control.
The general medium-long term objectives of the IDCHECKS 2013 Project are:
A. To improve capabilities to detect identity/document fraud and to
perform tactical/operational risk assessment in the first line of border
control
B. To develop a method for assessing and improving the capacity of Member States to face upcoming challenges in identity, document, and risk assessment, and in particular: i. to identify and study capability-based (human/machine) vulnerabilities and risks, ii. to design and test mitigation and countermeasures, and iii. to recommend solutions to improve security (decrease false acceptance rate – decrease the number of document or identity abusers who cross undetected – while minimizing false rejection rate) in the first line of border control
C. To disseminate information on challenges and potential solutions
to counter identity and document fraud and assess risk at the border
D. To support the work of the EU Document Fraud Project (EDF), training in falsified documents, and operational activities in the area
Role of the IDCHECK 2013 External Quality Assurance Group
The task of the External Quality Assurance Group is to independently
and objectively review and evaluate draft deliverables of the project in
terms of technical quality (content, form, structure and to make
recommendations regarding the acceptance/rejection of final outputs),
including:
• a research note on issues related to the fight against document and identity fraud in the first line of border control,
• a research study on existing methodologies and guidelines to
assess operational capabilities, vulnerabilities, and countermeasures in
countering identity and document fraud and risk assessment at the
border,
• a technical study on the performance of existing automated
document inspection equipments and a research note on the Strengths and
Weaknesses of Automated Document Inspection Systems,
• a research study on the impact of decision support/aids for the
performance of risk assessment and decision-making of the border guards.
The Group is composed of experts from research and industry and serves as a technical peer-review mechanism in support of the Frontex Project team and of the IDCHECK2013 operational End-Users Group.
Tasks of the Individual Experts Members of the External Quality Assurance Group
Experts who accept to be members of the External Quality Assurance Group agree to:
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Independently and objectively review according to a specific quality control system (taking into consideration content, structure, currency, balance, completeness, neutrality, sources and citation, proofreading, compliance with research standards) and make duly substantiated recommendations regarding the acceptance/rejection of draft and final deliverables (studies/research notes/reports ONLY for public release) by an agreed deadline. The number of deliverables to be reviewed shall not exceed 3 during 2013; and the deadline shall be announced at least 3 weeks before the expiry.
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Be recognized as a member of the Frontex IDCHECK 2013 External Quality Assurance Group in official publications/presentations.
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Actively participate in meetings or remote discussions (online) and, if requested, offer advice on relevant topics. However, Members of the External Quality Assurance Group may not participate in project-related activities (ex. Outsourced studies, simulations/exercises, etc.)
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Act solely as an individual expert and not as a representative of the company/institutions he/she is employed by. Before each review task, the expert will be asked to sign a conflict of interest and confidentiality declaration and may be excluded from the specific task at discretion of the IDCHECK2013 Project Manager if a potential for conflict is envisaged.
Expert Requirements
The Group aims to be composed of a maximum of 10 experts. 5 experts
may be assigned to peer-review one deliverable depending on the specific
competence of the experts. Frontex reserves the right to decide which
experts will be assigned to which review.
The expert should have proven experience in similar peer-review
activities and competence in ONE or MORE of these areas:
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Physical and Optical security of travel documents
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Electronic security of travel documents
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Physical, Optical and electronic travel documents inspection systems
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Face and fingerprint biometrics
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Risk and vulnerabilities assessment of Security Systems
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Human-Machine Interaction and Decision-making
Furthermore, the expert must be fluent in speaking, reading and
writing in English.
Frontex reserves the right to select the appropriate experts so to
guarantee a representation of all the above-mentioned
subject-disciplines in the Group.
Location and Duration
Most of the tasks to be provided by the experts can be done at their own premises. Experts may be invited to attend meetings in Warsaw or elsewhere in Europe.
Members are appointed to the panel for a term of one year and may serve up to three consecutive terms.
Conditions
Selected Experts will be formally recognized in every study or research note they reviewed and commented on. Selected Experts will NOT be remunerated for their peer-review activities. If invited to meetings in Warsaw or elsewhere, their travel, accommodation, and per diem expenses will be reimbursed as per Frontex Reimbursement Rules.
Selection
Interested experts shall apply online at http://btn.frontex.europa.eu/form/idcheck2013-quality-assurance-group-expression-interest by 20 January.
Notification of acceptance/rejection will be communicated by 27 January.
Selected experts will then be invited to attend the public part of the IDCHECK2013 Kick-off meeting that will take place in Warsaw on 8 March 2013. Travel expenses to attend this meeting will be reimbursed.
For more information concerning this invitation and the project, please write to idchecks2013@frontex.europa.eu or contact Monica Gariup at 48-22-205 9619 or Ana Sofia Esteves at +48-22-205 9641.