The Irish Border

The Irish Border is perhaps the most contentious issue in the Brexit negotiations, but I believe smartphones can solve the issue.

1. Ireland and the United Kingdom would create a joint agency to administer the border. Governance would be equally divided with potentially a neutral chairman.

2. The agency would create a smartphone application which for sake of simplicity I will call Nexus after the successful joint boarder crossing program between the United States and Canada.

3. Anyone with a passport issued by the United Kingdom or a European Union state could register using the app by scanning that passport. Registration would be immediate but could only be done in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. Optionally, citizens of other countries could also be allowed to register.

4. The app would be granted access to the location of the device and would report each boarder crossing automatically.

5. Authorized app users would not be required to otherwise check in with any authority, and there would be criminal penalties for not enabling the app or for not having it when crossing the border and not reporting to the authorities.

6. The app would contain a declaration option to allow customs declaration and could process payments as with any e-commerce application.

7. The agency would maintain all information confidentially and would only report to the governments of Ireland and U.K. border crossings and declarations.