*The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office is expected to begin field validations this week of the respective Advanced Spectroscopic Portals being developed by Areva’s Canberra Industries, Raytheon [RTN], and Thermo Fisher Scientific [TMO]. The validations will last about one month and take place at four ports of entry in the U.S. The field validations will be followed by an independent test and evaluation program managed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology office. Separately, the National Science Foundation continues its ongoing evaluation of testing, costs and benefits of the ASP program.
*The State Department will likely add iris recognition as part of its Biometric Visa Program, which is currently uses fingerprint and facial recognition technology, Angela Miller, who oversees the implementation of biometrics technology for the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, says at a recent biometrics conference sponsored by NDIA. Before State issues a visa to a foreign national seeking permission to travel to the U.S., the Department’s consulates do name, fingerprint and facial recognition checks against FBI and Department of Homeland Security databases. The FaceIT facial recognition technology is supplied by L-1 Identity Solutions [ID]. Miller says State’s facial recognition database contains 73 million images. She says that the Defense Department will be adding iris recognition capabilities to its next-generation Automated Biometric Identification System database, noting that iris is a modality that offers speed, accuracy and scalability. “So we’d leverage their technology,” Miller says of DoD.