The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its final Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new database and matching system that incorporates multiple biometric modalities, a key difference from the current fingerprint-based automated biometric identity system known as IDENT.
The Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) system will eventually feature storage and matching for fingerprint, 10-print and two-print subsystems, face and iris. The IDENT system does store facial and iris images for low volume matching. The facial images have to be manually matched whereas HART is expected to take advantage of advanced algorithms to automate facial matching.
The fingerprint matching software for IDENT is supplied by 3M Corp.’s [MMM] Cogent business unit. Japan’s NEC Corp. supplies the low volume iris and face matching capabilities for IDENT.
Implementation of the HART system has congressional backing.
The RFP, which had been expected to be released last fall but was delayed for various reasons, was released through the DHS EAGLE II information technology procurement and is only open to prime contractors on that contract vehicle.
The DHS Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), which operates and manages IDENT and is leading the HART project, says that part of the delay was due to the DHS procurement team performing an “in-depth review of the procurement package.”
The IDENT system is running out of room and operating it is expensive and difficult to maintain. HART is expected to be scalable and modular. As more DHS components experiment with biometrics, demands on HART are expected to grow over time and the system may eventually be called on to incorporate other biometric modalities beyond the current planned finger, face and iris.
OBIM is part of the National Protection and Programs Directorate. OBIM says that HART will over greater capacity, more functionality, increased speed of transaction, be more responsive to future needs, and offer significantly improved user effectiveness.
The final RFP is similar to the last draft RFP but now includes timelines for vendors on the EAGLE II contract to respond. Oral presentations from potential vendors replying to the RFP are expected to begin in two weeks from Feb. 13 with written proposals due in four weeks.
HART will be developed in four increments, with the first two increments part of the current solicitation. Increment 1 will include fingerprint matching capabilities and analysis the encompass OBIM’s current 10-print and 2-print matching subsystems—supplied by 3M—either by replacing or incorporating those subsystems, the RFP says. It will also provide latent fingerprint management and analysis capabilities.
In Increment 1 the existing Multimodal Bridge Solution capability face and iris matching subsystem that uses NEC’s technology will continue to operate.
The first increment will also implement a new data architecture and the “implementation of a new system development and testing environment for performing maintenance on HART applications and enhancing and extending the capability of those applications,” the RFP says.
The deployment of Increment 1 will satisfy the initial operational capability for HART.
In Increment 2 the vendor will build on the business processing workflows implemented in the core application in the first increment. The second increment will also implement the multimodal matching capabilities “through the addition of full production scale iris and facial image matching and by adding business processing that leverages the results from multiple biometric matching operations to increase overall system matching accuracy,” the RFP says.
The RFP also says that the iris and facial matching capabilities that will be added in Increment 2 will supersede the current limited MMBS capabilities. The second increment will also provide “OBIM’s forensic examiners with the integrated capability to adjudicate matching results and provide identity management services for iris and facial modalities,” it says.
The final two increments are not part of the scope of the solicitation but are briefly outlined in the RFP. Increment 3 will establish web access to the HART services provided in the first two increments, including among others identification, pre-verification, verification, information retrieval and notification.
The third increment will also add more biometric modalities for storage and retrieval but not for matching. Increment 4 will integrate the “OBIM biometric verification and identity management capabilities across biometric modalities and will introduce user-available reporting and online analytical processing (OLAP) applications for advanced data analysis along with the necessary data stores and processing infrastructure to support both the analytical processing and the enhanced reporting and analysis that OLAP enables,” the RFP says.
Completion of Increment 4 will constitute full operating capability of HART.
The RFP doesn’t say when the HART prime contract will be awarded although last fall OBIM officials indicated that it wouldn’t take long to review bids. Increment 1 is expected to be completed 18 months after contract award. The multimodal biometric identity matching capability called for in Increment 2 is expected to be ready 18 months after the vendor is given the notice to proceed.