The FBI continues to implement its next-generation biometric matching system within the planned schedule and budget, agency officials said last week.
So far the service has initiated operations with three increments of the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, including the delivery of new workstations to better present data to fingerprint analysts, improved fingerprint matching technology, followed by a new capability for rapid biometric searches using mobile devices and the creation of a special database for individuals of special concern. The new fingerprint matching software, called Automated Fingerprint Identification Technology (AFIT), went live early last year and marked the initial operating capability for NGI.
The AFIT technology is supplied under a subcontract from France’s Safran Group through its Morpho Trak business. Lockheed Martin [LMT] is the prime contractor for the design and implementation of NGI.
The next increment in the NGI program is for palm and latent prints. This capability is slated to be introduced early in 2013, Scott Swan, special assistant for the FBI’s Science and Technology Branch, said last week at IDGA’s Biometrics & Identity Management Summit.
The latent capability is one of the “crown jewels” of the NGI implementation given the significant accuracy improvements that can now be achieved, Swan said.
The latent capability includes a national palm print repository, investigative searches of palm prints, unsolved latent file cascaded searches, and rapid response for use by Customs and Border Protection.
Following the deployment of the latent capability, the FBI expects the final key increment to occur by June 2014 with the inclusion of searches against databases of facial photos and scars, marks and tattoos. However, these searches will be more for investigative purposes in order to generate leads and narrow suspects.
This increment will also mark the retirement of the predecessor to NGI, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. In addition, the increment promises faster response times for biometric searches, enhanced operability, and new web-based services.
Beyond these capabilities, the FBI is conducting pilot tests of iris recognition technology. Swan said that original plans for a more robust iris capability in the near-term have been scaled back to due to a lack of iris data. He said that introducing iris capture into the typical booking process for police forces would be a major change to operating procedures and is premature.
Eventually the FBI also plans to do technology refreshes for its operational NGI capabilities.