The Defense Department late last month formally turned on the Next Generation Automated Biometric Identification System (NGA), its new biometric database that features multimodal storage and matching capabilities as well as fusion technology that further boosts the likelihood of positively identifying a suspected insurgent or terrorist. The NGA replaced the current DoD ABIS prototype on Jan. 30 as part of an ongoing development effort by Northrop Grumman [NOC], which beat Lockheed Martin [LMT] for the contract two years ago. Lockheed Martin developed the ABIS prototype.
“The new technology and the fusion algorithm are the kickers,” says Greg Fritz, product director, for the Biometric Enterprise Core Capability. “Not only does the new system provide better matching algorithms against four distinct biometric modalities, it is also able to synthesize what would formerly be ‘maybe’ matches (yellow resolves) in a single modality into automatic matches across multiple modalities. This means that, around the clock, NGA will make more ‘lights out’ automatic identifications, dramatically improving biometric support to warfighters around the globe.” The NGA will handle as many as 4.2 million records, 8,000 transactions per day, and give a response time in two to 10 minutes. “That’s a big deal for our priority customers,” says Sam Aloi, chief of the BTF Technical Management Branch. In addition to fingerprints, the other biometric modalities that can be ingested and searched in NGA are iris images, facial photos and palm prints. The new system also features blade server technology that allows for increased modularity as other technologies are adopted and scalability to accommodate future growth. ABIS will be retained as a back up for NGA. Northrop Grumman’s teammates for NGA include Ideal Innovations, Inc., L-1 Identity Solutions [ID], Microsoft [MSFT], IBM [IBM], Symantec [SYMC], Red Hat, NetIQ, NetApp, New Bold Enterprises, Oracle [ORCL] and Cisco [CSCO].