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smart chip data or a biometric card. Hence, he says, the ?novelty? of TWIC is in actuality, nothing new at all. An approved TWIC reader must un- lock ?containers of data? within millisec- onds in order to comply with TSA re- quirements. Additionally, TSA?s NPRM says that about 550 locations should be required to have the readers ? ferries and cruise ship terminals, in particular, while another 1,500 will be strongly recom- mended at dozens of ports. For about $5,000, terminal opera- tors can employ a proven system of TWIC ID card veri cation ? and, they can have it today. If ?necessity is the mother of all invention,? then it shouldn?t surprise anyone that a marine terminal operator would ultimately be the driver for the  rst ever workable TWIC solution, paving the way for others to do the exact same thing. In doing so, SSA may have saved the fed- eral government from having to shut- ter a program that has already cost the taxpayers plenty. And, while there?s no decision on whether SSA also intends to certify their proprietary, in-house version and sell actively into the mar- ket, at least two other vendors do. Like it or not; the complete TWIC solution is here. The only question left to ask is why anyone, presented with a database of 2.1 million thor-oughly vetted workers, wouldn?t take advantage of that layer of security to make their terminals, vessels, foreign trade zones ? indeed, the entire supply chain itself ? that much safer. The List of approved TWIC Readers: http://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/ les/publications/pdf/twic/twic_reader_qtl_current.pdf Intellicheck Mobilisa: www.icmobil.com Schneider Electric: www.schneider-electric.com www.marinelink.com MN October2013 Layout 18-31.indd 31MN October2013 Layout 18-31.indd 319/30/2013 11:25:59 AM9/30/2013 11:25:59 AM