Ed Schaffner

Biography

Ed Schaffner is director, Integrated Security Programs, Unisys Federal Systems.  He is responsible for identifying emerging technologies and developing solutions that support a broad range of security applications including identification, credentialing, border and access control, video surveillance, and tracking and tracing for the US federal government agencies’ assets.  He also leads Global Industries’ public sector and commercial organizations with similar activities supporting foreign governments and commercial clients globally.  Ed also serves as the director of the Reston Center of Excellence where Unisys security solutions and emerging technologies are on display and provide a focal point for global customers and Unisys engineers to explore innovative solutions to meet security challenges.

He has more than 20 years experience leading R&D, development, integration and information security programs - spanning command and control, intelligence, transportation and information systems domains - in support of the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury and Agriculture, as well as the General Services Administration and the intelligence community.  Key security programs include GSA Safeguard, Biometrics R&D support projects within the Department of Defense and the personal identification pilot study for the Army Research Laboratory, which integrated iris and face recognition technologies to produce a positive access control solution.  Ed also led the Security Certification and Accreditation of the U.S. Transportation Command’s and Air Force Weather Agency’s systems, as well as numerous IT projects supporting USTRANSCOM and the Air Force Air Mobility Command. 

Ed is a veteran of more than 20 years of service in the Air Force.  During that time, he was recognized and decorated many times for his leadership and technology innovation in the areas of transportation and command and control. His understanding of the functional requirements and technology and his foresight enabled him to serve in key roles during the development of systems that postured TRANSCOM and the Air Mobility Command to meet the mission needs of the 21st century.

Ed is a recognized subject matter expert and a regular speaker at international conferences about the benefits of combining biometric and other security technologies with process change to reduce operational risk and increase operational efficiency through enhanced secure business operations.

Areas of Expertise

• Biometrics
• ID access cards