- The € 1.4 M contract will incorporate Morocco, The Gambia and Guinea Bissau into the Sea Horse Network whose aim is to improve cooperation between origin and destination countries of illegal traffic.
- The new project seeks to improve the command and control capacities in some of the centres in Spain, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal and Cape Verde.
Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe, was awarded a contract with the Ministry of Interior to expand and enhance the secure communications channels for illegal immigration and drug traffic affairs between Spain, Portugal and the countries of South Atlantic. The € 1.4 million contract seeks to include Morocco, The Gambia and Guinea Bissau in the Sea Horse Network cooperation programme in which Spain, Portugal, Mauritania, Senegal and Cape Verde are already participants.
The Sea Horse Network is a leading system in the struggle against illegal immigration. It is based on a satellite communications network which allows secure information exchange and promotes cooperation between origin and destination countries of illegal traffic by providing information about immigration flows, location of suspicious boats; coordination of rescue operations and interception of illegal boats.
The different centres located in the participant countries as well as the coordination centre in Grand Canary will provide information in real time for effective decision making and order transmission for global control and prevention of illegal activities in the area.
The Sea Horse Network will integrate external information systems, such as the SIVE maritime surveillance system or the automatic identification system (AIS) to facilitate viewing threats geographically in real time.
Besides including new countries, the new project, called Sea Horse Cooperation Centres, will expand the command and control capacities of some of the national centres in order to optimise resources for border control and management.
Significant applications
Among other advantages, the Sea Horse Network will give support to the police corps and institutions engaged in immigration affairs. It will contribute to the definition of an effective policy to deter drug traffic and immigration besides boosting knowledge in this field in order to guarantee collection, processing and dissemination of information as well as the best practices. Therefore it will prevent illegal emigration.
Furthermore, the system promotes interregional cooperation between sub-Saharan Africa and Maghreb in migration management by the competent authorities and improves border control to tackle illegal traffic, civil traffic and other activities.
Avant-garde technology
Besides this, the modular design of the solution will allow further exportation to other countries, either European or African. It could be used as a model for cooperation with third countries.
This new project within the framework of the Sea Horse programme reaffirms the importance of this initiative towards the creation of an international information exchange system. It will help improve relations and international cooperation beyond illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
Indra’s experience in the implementation of border surveillance systems such as SIVE or satellite communications systems have played an important role in the development and consolidation of the Sea Horse Network system.
Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to stock market capitalisation, and also the second Spanish company with the most investment in R&D. In 2009, revenues reached € 2,513 M, of which a third came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 100 countries.