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, says at the recent IDGA 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 the list of suspects.
“We have other biometric modalities which science is not yet to the point that we can routinely do individualization,” says James Loudermilk, senior level technologist at the FBI’s Science and Technology Branch. “We can certainly do exclusions and on rare occasions identification but usually these are for lead generation, which is very important.”
Swan says progress is being made in the areas of matching against scars, marks and tattoos. The FBI’s Biometric Center of Excellence has provided seed money to West Virginia Univ., which is partnered with Michigan State Univ., to facilitate an SMT matching capability for technology transfer to industry, he says. As of now, four companies are working on this capability, he adds.
This final 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 says 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 says that introducing iris capture into the typical booking process for police forces would be a major change to operating procedures and is premature.
The FBI isn’t investing “specific monies” in iris but continues to do outreach in this area, such as the pilot projects, Swan says. He says at least two contractors are coming close to being able to deploy iris capture capabilities in a booking environment and are working with law enforcement agencies to this end. He adds that one possible approach is combining facial and iris capture simultaneously, which he says is “not terribly difficult.”
Eventually the FBI also plans to do technology refreshes for its operational NGI capabilities.